Bilingual Proteins Establish and Maintain Heritable Silent Chromatin DomainsFebruary 5, 2024Whether you learn through hitting the books or traveling the globe – speaking two languages has many advantages. Now, a study into the basis of gene expression regulation reports how bilingual “read-write” proteins that “speak” two epigenetic languages can help us to learn about the complex mechanisms controlling sequence-independent heritable gene silencing. The dynamic duo […]
XIST’s X-istential Crisis: A New Role in Autosomal Gene RegulationJanuary 22, 2024The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) XIST functions as an epigenetic silencer tightly linked to the X chromosome to balance gene expression between the sexes; however, this lncRNA now has a cause for concern as an autosomal gene regulatory function just pushed XIST into a full-blown “X-istential” crisis! Reports have described a dispersed XIST configuration in […]
uCoTarget Is a Single-Cell Multiomics Method for Multiple Histone ModificationsJanuary 17, 2024Everyone loves a bargain, and a new method called CoTarget really delivers. It’s a method that delivers single-cell multiomics data on multiple histone modifications and transcription factors, as well as the transcriptome. It can easily scale up to analyze a million single cells, and unlike similar methods, it doesn’t require microfluidic devices or special transposon […]
SSSavi: Savvy Epigenome Editing with Diverse, Orderly TeamsDecember 12, 2023Bringing in the right combination of people with different perspectives and abilities can take a team to new heights. And just like that savvy diverse team, a new epigenome editing tool called the Spy-Snoop-Sun-Avi (SSSavi) system recruits diverse effector molecules in an interchangeable and orderly way to understand how combinations of DNA and histone modifications […]
DNA Methylation Analysis Shows How Cannabis Exposure Increases the Risk of Adverse Health OutcomesDecember 11, 2023Do not risk missing a new paper describing a recent trans-ancestry epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) highlighting the significant health risks of recreational cannabis! In a fascinating new study, researchers now reveal that cannabis exposure can impact DNA methylation levels at specific regions independent of cigarette smoking to increase the risk of adverse health outcomes. Risk-averse […]
