The invention pertains to an in vitro method for predicting the chronological age of healthy Galliformes, the method comprising the steps of: (a.) obtaining genomic DNA from biological sample material deriving from the Galliformes subject or from the Galliformes population to be tested, (b.) determining the methylation level of a set of specific CpG sites in the genomic Galliformes DNA obtained in step (a.), and (c.) comparing the methylation levels of these CpG sites in the genomic Galliformes DNA from the sample to be tested with the methylation level of the same CpG sites from an age-correlated reference sample, thereby establishing the epigenetic age and predicting the chronological age of the subject or of the population to be tested; wherein for the set of specific CpG sites in step (b) the impact of genetic polymorphisms is eliminated by excluding CpG sites associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms, and the impact of sex-specific methylation differences on sex chromosomes is eliminated by excluding all CpG sites located on sex chromosomes.

The present invention relates to aquaculture, fish farming, to fish production and particularly smolt production, to traceability of fish and resulting seafood products, and to a method for providing robust and high-quality farmed fish. More particularly, the invention provides a method to identify farmed fish characteristics, comprising a step of preparing epigenetic signatures of the fish. The epigenetic signatures are employed for tracking origin and identity, as quality verifiers, as predictor for sea phase performance, as well as for feedback markers to optimize production regimes.

Disclosed herein are methods and systems of generating successful pregnancy probability descriptive of the embryo's potential for a successful pregnancy if implanted. The successful pregnancy probability generated may be used in methods and systems for selecting an embryo from a set of non-aneuploid embryos or for ranking a set of non-aneuploid embryos for suitability for intrauterine transfer from the set of non-aneuploid embryos.

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for diagnosing and treating degenerative mitral valve disease in a canine. In one embodiment, a method of diagnosing early stage degenerative mitral valve disease in a canine can comprise measuring a normalized relative abundance of a biomarker selected from the group consisting of Erysipelatoclostridium, Ruminococcaceae UCG014, Butyricicoccus, Faecalibacterium, and combinations thereof, and determining that the canine has early stage degenerative mitral valve disease if the Erysipelatoclostridium is from 0 to 0.5 normalized relative abundance, the Ruminococcaceae UCG014 is from 0 to 0.1 normalized relative abundance, the Butyricicoccus is from 0 to 0.1 normalized relative abundance, or the Faecalibacterium is from 0 to 0.1 normalized relative abundance.

This invention relates generally to the discovery of an improved method to differentiate histiocytic malignancy from lymphoma or hemangiosarcoma in dogs.

The present invention concerns a polygenic score and a method embedding such polygenic score for predicting levels of fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides, for example alpha-1,2-fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides secreted by a human subject during lactation.

The present disclosure provides methods, systems, and media for determining a pigmentation phenotype of a canine subject. In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for determining a pigmentation phenotype of a canine subject. The method may comprise (a) receiving genotype data for the canine subject, wherein the genotype data comprises quantitative values of each of a plurality of genetic markers, wherein the plurality of genetic markers comprises genetic variants; (b) applying a trained machine learning classifier to the genotype data to determine a predicted pigmentation phenotype based at least in part on the quantitative values of the plurality of genetic variants; and (c) identifying the canine subject as having the predicted pigmentation phenotype with an accuracy of at least about 70%.

The invention provides a Siniperca chuatsi IL-6 gene and a detection method for a disease-resistant SNP marker. A cDNA sequence of S. chuatsi IL-6 gene is cloned, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. A IL-6 gene gDNA sequence containing an intron of the S. chuatsi IL-6 gene is cloned, as shown in SEQ ID NO: 2. A primer for amplifying a disease-resistant SNP locus is designed according to IL-6 gDNA sequence, and S. chuatsi IL-6 gene is amplified to obtain an amplification product which is sequenced, and the SNPs loci relevant to virus disease-resistance are found out and the SNP locus is determined according to DNA peak profile. The IL-6 cDNA full-length sequence and IL-6 gDNA full-length sequence are cloned firstly. The SNP locus relevant to virus disease resistance of S. chuatsi IL-6 gene is detected, thereby providing a new method for breeding of S. chuatsi.

Provided are age-modified cells and method for making age modified cells by reducing or increasing the level of genomic nucleic acid methylation in the cells. The aging and/or maturation process can be accelerated or reduced and controlled for young, aged, mature and/or immature cells, such as a somatic cell, a stem cell, a stem cell-derived somatic cell, including an induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cell, by reducing or increasing the level of genomic nucleic acid methylation in the cells. Methods described by the present disclosure can produce age-appropriate cells from a somatic cell or a stem cell, such as an old cell, young cell, immature cell, and/or a mature cell. Such age-modified cells constitute model systems for the study of late-onset diseases and/or disorders.

The methods and kits described herein are based, in part, to the discovery of a phenotype representing a fully-reprogrammed iPS cell and several reprogramming intermediates. The methods and kits described herein permit identification of fully-reprogrammed iPS cells and further permits one of skill in the art to monitor the emergence of iPS cells during the reprogramming process. The methods/kits can also be performed using real time using live cell imaging. Also described herein are methods for screening candidate reprogramming agents by monitoring the emergence of fully-reprogrammed iPS cells in the presence and absence of such an agent.