Craft Technologies, a small contract laboratory in Wilson, has received federal certification in the measurement of estradiol, a metabolite of the sex hormone estrogen that is useful in assessing many diseases and disorders.
The certification comes from the Hormone Standardization Program for Estradiol at the Centers for Disease Control. The program helps laboratories with calibration of hormone methodology.
Estrogen is a sex hormone essential for normal metabolism in both women and men. Altered estrogen levels have been associated with increased cancer risk.
Craft Technologies has developed a method to measure up to 16 estrogen metabolites, including estradiol, in blood serum. A metabolite is any product or substrate of metabolism. Craft’s analysis method involves stable isotope dilution coupled with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to provide results that are sensitive, accurate and reproducible in the part per trillion range, the company said in a news release.
Craft Technologies joins a small group of laboratories to complete the certification process for the measurement of estradiol. The company offers the measurement of an entire panel of estrogen metabolites including estrone, estradiol and estriol and their hydroxyl- and methoxy- metabolites.
Measurement of multiple estrogen metabolites provides a more comprehensive picture of the role estrogens play in biological processes, the company said.
Founded in 1994 by Neal Craft, Craft Technologies is a contract laboratory specializing in the analysis of vitamins, carotenoids, bioflavonoids, phytochemicals and hormones in a variety of sample types. It serves government agencies, businesses, and universities around the world.
The company received $844,395 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2016 for analytical work aimed at improving nutrition in the developing world. The two-year grant is funding research to determine the best and cheapest methods for collecting and measuring nutritional biomarkers in dried blood samples.
Craft Technologies’ nutrition lab operates from a 10,000-square-foot facility near I-95 in Wilson and employs 17 people.
(C) N.C. Biotech Center
