Sex On the Brain: DNA Methylation Defines GenderMarch 31, 2015AÂ talented team from the University of Maryland has added some strong molecular evidence that DNA methylation is an active player in setting the sexual behaviors you’re born with. Sexuality has always been a complex topic. Typically it refers to presence or absence of certain sex organs. However, the concept of gender is more complex, as […]
Boosting CRISPR’s Editing EffectivenessMarch 31, 2015Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you’ll know that CRISPR-Cas has been in the forefront of precise genome editing since its discovery in 1987 by Atsuo Nakata. However, as a technique it is not without shortcomings; while it has achieved a great deal of efficiency in the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway, its ability to achieve […]
Cas9: The Ultimate Gene Driving MachineMarch 30, 2015Add one more to all the amazing things CRISPR can do: it is also the ultimate driving machine. Provided, of course, that you are a gene, and that your destination is any chromosome where you do not currently reside. Gene Drives Spread by Overwriting Alleles A gene drive is when a gene on one chromosome […]
H3K9me3: The Genomic Pacifier That Silences SINEsMarch 30, 2015Kids can be hard to handle, between dealing with drawing on the walls and public temper tantrums; therefore all parents need a successful tactic for keeping them under control. Short INterspersed Elements (SINEs) are like the chaotic kids of the genome. These repetitive sequences make up about 11% of our genome and because of their […]
Transdifferentiation Strategy Weeds Out Immature Cancer CellsMarch 29, 2015Every gardener knows the key to successful weeding; extract the entire root because even a small section can regenerate the whole plant. When treating cancer, doctors are faced with the same problem. Immature cancer stem cells often escape treatment and repopulate the tumor, despite its successful elimination by radio or chemotherapy. In a new take […]