A First Accurate Blood Test Developed for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

ME/CFS is a long-term illness that causes extreme tiredness, trouble thinking, pain, and poor sleep. It mostly affects women. Illustration by the author.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Oxford BioDynamics have developed a blood test for ME/CFS, a condition that has long been difficult to pin down. The test uses EpiSwitch® 3D Genomics to analyse how DNA folds in blood cells.

Among 47 patients with severe ME/CFS and 61 healthy volunteers, the test picked up 92% of the patients and correctly flagged 98% of the healthy individuals. These results suggest a step toward a more concrete and reliable diagnosis .

The core of the technology is chromosome conformation, the way DNA bends and loops in the nucleus. These folds aren’t fixed; they shift, respond, and influence which genes are turned on or off . EpiSwitch® has been used to find biomarkers for cancers and severe COVID-19, so the method isn’t entirely new. But applying it to ME/CFS is promising.

For this test, researchers identified a 200-marker model tied to immune and inflammatory pathways-interleukins, TNFα, neuroinflammatory signalling, and JAK/STAT. These markers might help guide treatments one day, though it’s early days.

Experts note that larger, more diverse studies are needed. And the £1,000 cost per test isn’t trivial, it could limit access at first. But even with these hurdles, this development represents a meaningful stride forward. Something objective for a condition that has left patients in limbo for far too long.

Reference: Pshezhetskiy, D., Akoulitchev, A., & Oxford BioDynamics. (2025). Development and validation of blood-based diagnostic biomarkers for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-025-07203-w