DNA Methylation Steps Up to Protect Against the Impact of Environmental StressJuly 3, 2015It rears its head around tax time and lunges at you when your experiments fail. It can be good for you, but usually stinks….STRESS. It goes without saying that stress in any form is best avoided. This is especially true if you happen to be an expecting mother who’s currently eating for two, as the […]
Book Review: Epigenetics – Current Research and Emerging TrendsJuly 2, 2015Edited by Brian P. Chadwick and composed of 17 chapters from thought leaders in academia and industry, this is one text you don’t want to miss. It covers a wide breadth of topics ranging from DNA methylation to Chromatin to ncRNA, with insight from across the tree of life and related human disorders. The perspective […]
5fC is Stable in Mammalian BrainsJune 24, 2015DNA methylation has been undergoing dramatic change lately. 6mA shook things up by showing Cytosine can’t claim all the glory and now a talented team from the UK have shown 5-formylcytosine (5fC) is starting to follow in 5hmC’s independent footsteps. The team profiled 5hmC, 5fC, and 5caC using: in vivo isotope labeling of methionine to penetrate […]
Gene Editing Future Brightens with paCas9June 22, 2015We knew it was coming. No, not another Jurassic Park sequel. No, not another installment of Star Wars. More inevitable than the revival of the Terminator franchise: we now have photoactivatable CRISPR/Cas9. Yes, as surely as the sun rises, scientists have developed a way to use that light (or at least the blue part) to […]
Stem Cell Reprogramming – Leaner, Quicker, Cheaper, BetterJune 20, 2015“More for less” is a phrase that generally gets most people excited, and scientists trying to make induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are no exception. The reprogramming of somatic cells to generate iPSCs aims to bring patient-specific cell replacement therapies to the masses, but the process currently suffers from obstacles common to new technologies – […]