Casilio: a CRISPR/Cas9 and Pumilio Hybrid for Epigenome EditingJanuary 24, 2016Life is full of challenges, and when that challenge is epigenome editing even a rock star like CRISPR/Cas9 stands to benefit from helping a hand. Epigenome editing with CRISPR/Cas9 involves using a dead Cas9 (dCas9) that confers the precision of the genome editing system without nuclease activity. The standard approach involves utilizing a fusion protein […]
CRISPR Gene Editing Prefers the Naïve Side of PluripotencyJanuary 11, 2016While many across the universe have been pondering over the decision between the light and the dark side of the Force, a more pressing decision confronts CRISPR-based gene editing in stem cells: the primed or the naïve side of pluripotency!? Pluripotent Stem Cells (PSCs), such as human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), human embryonic stem […]
LobChIP: A Single Day ChIP-Seq Library Preparation HackJanuary 9, 2016With the speed and power of today’s high-throughput sequencers it seems that chromatin immunoprecipitation is the ‘limiting reagent’ in your ChIP-Seq reaction. Usually ChIP-Seq immunoprecipitation and library preparation takes 4 or 5 days, but now a talented team from Uppsala University in Sweden bring forth the library-on-beads ChIP (lobChIP) protocol, which wraps that up into […]
A Synthetic Transcriptional Repressor That’s Anything but PlainJanuary 9, 2016Synthetic gene circuits, just like electronic circuits, are built from parts that take an input, process it, and pass on an output. The toolbox of parts for gene circuits has long been limited to those found somewhere in nature, particularly when it comes to sensing an input. Typically, these systems repurpose a natural transcription factor that […]
tRNA Fragments Beat DNA Methylation in the Game of Paternal Intergenerational Epigenetic InheritanceJanuary 9, 2016The fact that parental diet affects the metabolism of offspring goes to show that inheritance can be shaped by environmental factors. While early studies focused on mom’s contribution, we’re now starting to see the importance of paternal contribution for shaping an offspring’s epigenome. For the past 15 years, the lab of Oliver Rando at the […]
