at cambridge biomedical centre genomics, stana stankovic is trying to develop reliable menopause prediction tests. the access to these kindd of data basically allows us to read the dna of over 200,000 women who are menopausal. we can basically analyse and understand what are the differences in their dna that actually determine at what age they will become menopausal. some of the scientists i've spoken to have been focused more on health equality — it seems for you, this is also about fertility. we actually capture both sides. it is really necessary for the tests in the clinic to have long—term predictive potential. and at the moment, theyjust tell you whether you're menopausal or not. exactly — but once you detect the problem of infertility, you're usually too late to do anything about it, such as go

through ivf or cryopreservation. what our test might do is the long—term predictive capability, which means that you will be able to plan your family and fertilityjourney extremely early on, so that you don't end up in the situation of unexpected infertility, where you don't have a solution, how to battle it. how close are we to tests that could do that reliably being available for anyone to use? we are at about 60% reliability, which means we lack around 20% more to enter the clinical practice. experts can't agree on exactly how much genetics impact the exact time of menopause. stats estimate it to be around 60%, the rest being down to lifestyle or health, stress or medical issues. but, particularly for those who do face it early, these tests could give some clarity.

when i found out i was going through an early menopause, i think i was quite taken aback. i'd been on the oral contraceptive pill for quite a number of years, and i'd recently had a relationship breakdown down, so i came off that — and it was whilst i'd come off the pill that i started getting some hot flush symptoms, and i hadn't really thought much of it at the time. but after it was happening every day, i went to the doctor to get some blood tests, and everything kind of started to unravel slowly from there, really. and it wasn't until i went through several diagnostic tests that i actually found that it was too late and i'd gone through the menopause — and i wasn't then able to have children, and i was infertile. so that was quite a lot to take on at the age of 31. unless, of course, you could then take a drug to delay it. the imperative for someone like siobhan may be greater, but research into developing therapeutics to do so is aimed at all women. back in cambridge, scientists are replicating in mice the signs that have been identified in human dna. so, to test the genes

that we find in humans, we have to work with lab scientists. so you can see here, gerry, working on some mouse cells, validating our targets that we discovered in humans. 0k. so what we can do with this is, | first, find out what the function of that protein is so, - that then we can hopefully try to target that as a drug therapy. so, so far, what we've done very well is categorise the kinds - of variations that you find in large data into different groups. - we know that some effect how many eggs that a woman is born with, - and we know that some affect the survival of the eggs - into adult life. and so, that's already a big step | forward, in trying to understand| mechanistically the different causes of infertility. - there are already startups working in this space. new york—based oviva therapeutics is currently trialling its menopause—delay drug in animals. this being an engineered form of the anti—malarial hormone, which plays a crucial role in regulating

reproductive potential. what oviva is developing is a therapeutic that essentially can be used to extend the ovarian reserve for the number of eggs that we have at any given point in time, and using this as a means to extend ovarian function. now what's interesting about this is mechanistically, this is something you could take at any given point in your life, and it would essentially be working as an anti—aging contraceptive. and this therapeutic is something that you could start taking once you're in your 40s — whether you're finished having your family or perhaps you don't want children, it would be easily used at a later date closer to when you might enter menopause as a means to really stave that off. health risks vary pre and post—menopause. exposing the body to hormones for longer can be associated with a higher risk of breast, ovarian, or endometrial cancers. whether this method of delay might impact that cancer risk in humans is unclear — though so far, there's no evidence of this in animal studies.

the likelihood of toxicity is quite low, but there's a lot that we need to better understand about the consequences of having that as a therapeutic, but then, also extending the function of the ovaries for longer. so i think ideally, we'd be able to take this therapeutic for a number of years, essentially for as long as we would want to forestall menopause. but have there been moody mice? the question of whether mood will be impacted is an interesting one. and i think we know that this is acting very early in the cycle to basically pause the eggs and follicles from entering that maturation pathway. and in doing so, you're actually creating a little light suppression on the cycle, of oestrogen in particular. progesterone, i don't think we've seen any direct impact on. but i think the critical thing here is we just need more data. whilst initial signs are promising, daisy�*s questions over extending women's hormonal lives are echoed by other experts.

before moving into health tech, dr stephanie kuku was a gynaecologist, also researching women's cancers. what do you think of the concept of creating therapeutics to delay menopause? delaying menopause might mean that you are exposing the body to hormones for longer than we are naturally used to. so, perhaps we need to think about what the side—effects of that could be. the trouble is that we need really long periods of testing to really see these side—effects — so whilst initial preclinical studies might show that delaying the menopause is safe, i think long—term clinical studies in humans will be really important to guarantee the safety and efficacy of therapeutics to delay the menopause. we had better treatments and more access to hrt — because hrt does work, then perhaps it wouldn't be such a topic of conversation, the menopause should be delayed rather than just managed better. i definitely think if there was something along those lines,

the that would be really encouraging, because it could really, really change some people's life. and i think mainly for me, it's been the fertility side that's had such a big impact, because that's something that's now been taken away. so i think, if i could have maybe had a bit more time with that, yeah, it would definitely be interesting. it's hard to look back and and see, but i think it's very exciting that these things are possibly out there. and there is something else. there's been a big problem with underfunding in women's health. do you think that menopause delay is actually the right place to be investing money? so we have to think about delaying menopause in the context of prioritising women's health needs. what is mission critical is investing in trials to find better therapeutics for the very deadly ovarian cancer that has sort of limited treatment options, the right way to invest — or should we be really thinking about delaying menopause

in the context of who it would be most beneficial to delay menopause for? clearly, women's experiences vary hugely, and this is controversial. but, as we start to recognise the impact menopause has on countless women's health and wellbeing, the case for better or different safe treatment strengthens. and that's it for the short version of our women in tech programme. the full—length show can be found on iplayer. thanks for watching, we should be back next week. bye— bye.

hello. friday was the first day of meteorological spring — but it was also a day that winter refused to relinquish its grip. here in northern ireland, enniskillen, seeing a fresh fall of fairly chunky snow. there were also some snowfall over the peak district — this is the cat and fiddle road — road that goes between macclesfield and buxton — it's quite high up, but we had some problems reported on that, as well. low pressure then has been across the uk, with this cold air mass in place. we've got lots of showers at the moment, particularly across england and wales, northern scotland, and this band of rain and hill snow across parts of the far north of england and southern scotland. now there is a chance of seeing a centimetre or two of snow across the cheviots, the north pennines, the southern uplands over the next hour or two, so it could get quite icy here. and also in the showers affecting the higher parts of wales — again, above 200 metres elevation, you might come across an odd centimetre or two of snow across the high ground here. temperatures getting close, if not below freezing in a few areas,

so there will be a risk of a few icy patches heading into the first part of saturday morning. then we've got this clump of more organised showers working across wales in the midlands — well, they could have a bit of sleet or snow mixed in, probably struggling to settle, and quite a few of those showers will still have just cold rain. it is a day where showers will be really widespread on saturday, some of them with hail and thunder. and, although there'll be a bit of sunshine between the showers, those sunnier moments, probably quite short—lived. temperatures below average, about 6—9 celsius. now, the same area of low pressure stays with us through saturday night and into sunday. it will tend to drift northwards, tending to weaken somewhat. and so, of the two days of the weekend, sunday looks like it's likely to be the better, in terms of weather. should be a fair bit of dryer weather after a locally misty and foggy start to the day, a better chance of seeing some sunshine. there'll still be a few showers around, particularly for scotland and northern ireland, 1—2 for wales and western england, but bigger gaps between those showers and a bit more in the way of sunshine. it will continue to feel cool

though, for the time of year. into next week, low pressures continue to move in off the atlantic from the west, but they're running into this area of high pressure that's centred over scandinavia. and so, we'll get something of an east—west split with the weather. for western areas, it stays quite cloudy with the threat of further outbreaks of rain. eastern areas tending to become drier, sunnier, and a bit milder, as well. that's the latest, bye for now.

live from washington. this is bbc news president biden says the us will air—drop aid to gaza, as the international outcry grows over a deadly incident at a food convoy. crowds in moscow chant the name of alexei navalny, the late opposition figure who was buried on friday. police make dozens of arrests at memorial events. the bbc gets rare access to iran,

which is holding its first round of elections since nationwide protests in 2022. us presidentjoe biden announced plans on friday to order a us military air—drop to get food and aid supplies into gaza in the coming days. the air—drops will be coordinated with the jordanians, who have been at the forefront of efforts to send assistance to gaza by air. biden�*s announcement comes after more than 100 palestinians were killed on thursday and more than 700 were injured as crowds formed around an aid convoy in northern gaza, desperate for food. witnesses say the israeli army shot into the crowd. the israeli army, which has released this overhead drone footage, admits its soldiers opened fire — but claims most of the deaths were caused by a crush, or aid trucks running people over. the united nations reported

friday that "a large number" of people had been found with bullet wounds.