We are happy to present our interview with Dr. Sara di Persio, a faculty member in first NYRA School in Omics of Male Germ Cells. Sara is a a postdoc at the Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology in Münster, Germany where she works on characterization of different human spermatogonial stem cell subpopulations in men with normal spermatogenesis with the aim to identify alterations occurring in impaired spermatogenesis. Her expertise includes single cell RNA-sequencing epigenetics and spermatogenesis.
1. What was your first experience with Omics? Were you prepared for it or did you learn on the go?
My first Omics experience was 7 years ago. I had just finished my PhD and moved to Germany for my PostDoc. My first project was to study the DNA methylation levels of human sperm in control and infertile men using whole genome bisulfite sequencing. I had absolutely no experience with this kind of analysis, but I was lucky enough to work with very experienced people that helped me learn the technique and the analysis pipeline.
2. Can you name one situation when omics made a significant impact on your research?
During my Postdoc, I also worked on a project aiming to uncover the single cell transcriptional profile of human testicular tissue of men with full and impaired spermatogenesis. I loved working on this project, as since my PhD, my main goal has been to characterize the cellular heterogeneity within the human spermatogonial compartment. I was really excited when I received the results of single cell RNA sequencing analyses as for the very first time I had a tool that could help me to reach my goal.
3. What challenges do you commonly face when interpreting omics data in the context of andrology?
The main challenge I face is heterogeneity within the testicular tissue as well as within the patient cohort. Every patient has a unique clinical and genetic background, which might have an impact on the results. Furthermore, the testicular tissue is quite heterogeneous especially when analyzing patients with impaired spermatogenesis so the surgical sampling plays a big role in the outcome of the analyses.
4. What omics tools do you consider essential for the future of male reproductive biology research?
I think that many of them can help Andrology. In the recent years, exome sequencing has allowed to unravel the cause behind the infertility of many patients. I believe that analyzing and combining information regarding the epigenetic, transcriptional and proteomic profile of sperm or testicular tissue of infertile men could further increase the male infertility diagnostic rate.
5. What advice would you give to young scientists facing omics for the first time?
To stay focused on their research question. These kind of experiments generate many data and it is very easy to get lost in them. In addition, do not be afraid to ask for help in case they are unsure about how to perform one or another analysis.
6. To whom would you recommend attending our school in February?
To any PhD student or postdoc that is interested in the topic and/or is planning to use RNA sequencing to study the male germ and somatic cells.