Not Aging Gracefully? Two Epigenetic Regulators May be to BlameMarch 16, 2020In the last 50 years, there has been a ~20% increase in global life expectancy but interestingly, there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of healthy years lived. Lubin Jiang and Shi-Qing Cai at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China) sought to understand that disparity by examining the genetic factors involved […]
Single Cell Analyses Reveal How Epigenetic Drift Makes Stem Cells Age Badly!October 28, 2019While cheese and wine (and whisky!) all get better with age, the human body fares less well! Although partaking in too many culinary delights hardly helps, studies have established the reduced number and activity of stem cells as a cause for the age-related deterioration of various tissue types. With this in mind, a talented team […]
Foretelling Future Hippocampal Transcription and Disease Risk with Early DNA Methylation ProfilesOctober 27, 2019Will it rain tomorrow? Will I ever win the lottery? Will our new paper finally be accepted!? Unfortunately, we have yet to come up with a sturdy means to predict our fates far in the future; however, new research by Hadad and colleagues now suggests that DNA methylation profiles in young cells accurately foretell changes […]
Webinar: The Epigenetics of the Exposome and Aging – Paul G. ShielsOctober 2, 2019Don’t miss this great webinar detailing some of the latest discoveries about the role of epigenetics in aging. Aging results in a gradual and progressive loss of physiological functions and physical abilities over time. Overcoming the growing burden of age-related issues is one of the greatest challenges facing modern society. These issues are leading to […]
Mutant DNMT3A Underperforms in Overgrowth SyndromeJune 25, 2019If you’re underperforming at work, you might end up with a rejected paper, failed experiments, or an angry boss. However, this isn’t so bad when compared to how mutated DNMT3A underperforms in its role as a DNA methyltransferase, since that can result in a pathogenic overgrowth known as Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome (TBRS). Despite DNMT3A’s known role […]