Bringing in “Young Blood” Persistently and Systemically Slows Epigenetic AgingAugust 22, 2023Be it a football team, a book club, or an epigenetics lab, bringing in “young blood” can seriously improve quality in the short term, but does this effect endure? Now, a heterochronic parabiosis study reveals that long-term exposure to young blood induces persistent slowing of DNA methylation-based epigenetic aging and extends healthy lifespans in mice! […]
DM-Seq: A DM You’ll Want to Slide Into for Direct Methylation Sequencing of CytosinesJuly 31, 2023When someone slides into your DMs, it could mean that they are interested in you. Now, there’s a whole new meaning of “DM” for epigeneticists. Direct Methylation Sequencing (DM-seq) nondestructively maps 5mCs directly at single-base resolution with enzymes, and only needs nanograms of sample. There are already lots of ways to get at 5mC, including: Kohli’s […]
Dnmt3bas Is Inactive Dnmt3b’s Nemesis, Keeping Its Levels Low via Transcription and SplicingJuly 10, 2023The main character of many movies has a memorable nemesis who can’t help but try to bring them down and get in their way. Now, it turns out that the nemesis of the inactive Dntm3b isoform may just be development’s best friend. Before differentiation, Dnmt3b transcript levels are kept low, but get a boost at differentiation. […]
DNA Methylation Alterations Highlight Drivers of Aggressive Metastatic TumorsJuly 3, 2023The identification and early detection of events driving the metastasis of primary tumors may help identify therapeutic targets and patients that respond to specific therapeutics. Now, an epigenetic study focused on the spread of colorectal cancer to the liver reports DNA methylation as the spark driving metastatic events. Roadworthy researchers led by Euan J. Rodger, […]
Single-Molecule Methylation Profiles of Cell-Free Cancer DNA—Without Playing GamesJune 14, 2023Sometimes, you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get what you want. Hanlee Ji’s lab (Stanford) must be tired of playing those games because they’ve developed a direct single-molecule methylation nanopore sequencing approach for cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that doesn’t involve bisulfite conversion or even PCR. And yet it works on nanogram or […]
