Turn on Your Genes with a Helping Hand from CRISPR-Cas9February 10, 2015We all know that the genome editing superhero CRISPR-Cas9 is a master of modifying the genome, but a recent paper from Zhang lab shows that it is more than just a one-trick pony. This latest research boosts the previously developed CRISPR-Cas9 transcriptional activators both in terms of the level of gene induction and in the […]
Cell Organelles Trip the Light Fantastic with OptogeneticsFebruary 10, 2015The future is looking bright for optogenetics – a technique which uses light to control cellular processes. Following on from a previous illuminating study covered here at Epigenie (Shedding Light on Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s with Optogenetics), another group of researchers have utilized optogenetics in a novel manner – the light-mediated control of sub-cellular […]
SynBioLGDB: A Gateway for Logical BiologyFebruary 9, 2015Electrical engineering is a strong contender for the central analogy of synthetic biology. Synthetic biologists often think of electrical circuits when designing gene networks, and logic gates are central to the metaphor. Biological logic gates can be difficult to design from scratch, however, and they can’t just be bought at Radio Shack, even before it […]
Review: Crosslinking-Immunoprecipitation (CLIP) MethodsFebruary 8, 2015RNA-protein interactions are key to understanding human health and disease. Crosslinking-immunoprecipitation (CLIP) and related technologies are powerful tools for characterizing these interactions. Since their introduction in 2008 (Licatalosi et al., 2008), CLIP-based approaches have been applied to prominent RNA research fields such as HIV and cancer. Recently, Sebla Kutluay and colleagues used CLIP to characterize […]
Epigenetic Clock Goes from Analog to iWatchFebruary 6, 2015Tick tock…we all know that life is a battle against the inevitability of time. But wouldn’t it be great if you could get a real idea of how your cells are aging? It may just help make 20 the new 30, that is when it comes to your chance of death. And that’s the ambitious […]