Pol II Gives Cells Pause During Somatic Cell ReprogrammingOctober 27, 2014Few inventions have led the convenience revolution more so than the remote control. The Pause, Play, and Fast-forward buttons give us complete command of our entertainment while we relax after a hard day at work. But little did we know that researchers from the group of Miguel A. Esteban (Chinese Academy of Sciences) haven’t been […]
m6A RNA Methylation Modifications Helps Cells to Forget Stem Cell PastOctober 25, 2014When it comes to post-translational modifications, it’s fair to say that DNA and proteins have taken most of the limelight in epigenetics. RNA modifications have been largely relegated to the role of supporting actor. Not content with nucleosomes taking all the credit, a team of Stanford and Harvard researchers now demonstrate the importance of RNA […]
Pluripotency Genes are Loopy about their NeighborhoodOctober 25, 2014Most of us understand the importance of a good neighborhood; we look for somewhere to reflect our identity and to bring us together with similar minded people. Interestingly, recent work from the labs of Keji Zhao and Richard A. Young suggests that certain genes in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) act in a similar manner. The inquisitive crew of […]
Sweet Success: Is a Viable Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetes in the Works?October 18, 2014Could we be near a bona fide treatment for a disease which affects over 300 million people? A remedy for the Case of the Mondays perhaps? No, it’s better than that; researchers from Harvard University believe that they might have uncovered a new strategy to replace lost insulin secreting cells of the pancreas (b cells) […]
Natural Disasters Impact DNA MethylationOctober 16, 2014As Polar Vortex II approaches, you’ll be interested in a recent study highlighting the impact of environment stressors on the epigenome. Prenatal maternal stress exposure is known to adversely affect offspring in a number of ways, depending on the nature of the exposure, but is typically studied in common exposures like diet, alcohol, and lead. But this has left the […]
