DNA Methylation Links Low Maternal Folate with Neural Tube DefectsMarch 1, 2011Increasing evidence supports that mom’s parental duties start way before birth. Make sure you do this…don’t do that, but don’t stress over it. It’s great to see researchers starting to get a hold of the “why” behind all the rules. Not getting enough folate from mom puts fetuses at risk for neural tube defects such […]
Stressed Out Moms MethylateMarch 1, 2011Raising babies is a stressful thing, made even more so when Mom herself is raised: a meter high on a Plexiglas platform, while she’s pregnant, that is. The effect on her kids – er, pups – is manifest in brain and body weight, in behavioral development, and even epigenetically. Researchers from the University of Lethbridge […]
Turning Back the Clock: Epigenetics, iPSCs and AgingFebruary 25, 2011Aging can be a real downer, but for some individuals premature aging is a lot more serious than a few aches and pains the morning after some touch football. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare and fatal genetic disorder where the victims speed through aging. It is caused by a point mutation in the […]
5-mC Stabilizes High-Maintenance MethyltransferasesFebruary 16, 2011Many things in life–like diets, exercise routines, and blogs–are easier to start than maintain. The same can be said for DNA methylation. De novo methyltransferases establish DNA methylation patterns in embryonic stem cells, but exactly how somatic cells maintain these patterns is puzzling. Now researchers at the University of Southern California have identified a new […]
Genome-Wide Methylation Sequencing Hits the Fast LaneFebruary 11, 2011Genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing hasn’t been much more than sci-fi reading for most labs. Sure there’ve been some great papers with really slick technologies, but many researchers just don’t have access to them. In many cases, no single lab can handle the complete experimental workflow from sample prep to data management/analysis, requiring collaborations with other […]
