Abcam’s Bisulfite-Seq High Sensitivity Kit Streamlines 5mC DetectionJanuary 26, 2015The new Bisulfite-Seq High Sensitivity Kit from the creative crew at Abcam, is a 2-in-1 package that weaves bisulfite conversion, and Illumina® sequencing library prep into the same process. This single kit can take you from sample DNA, to firing up a Bisulfite Sequencing (BS) run that same day. There’s No Such Thing as Too […]
The Latest and Greatest: A Genome-Editing Cautionary TaleJanuary 26, 2015Genome-editing techniques, including CRISPR-Cas9 and TALENs, have leapt into the limelight through their ability to perform feats such as creating genetically engineered monkeys, ‘curing’ a human related disease in mice, and taking out huge sections of a genome. The two systems are both based on nucleases, with the CRISPR-Cas9 system using the bacterially derived Cas-9 nuclease […]
Intergenerational Epigenetic Effects of Dad’s DietJanuary 23, 2015The effect of epigenetic marks across generations has helped bring epigenetics to the public eye like never before. The health implications are enormous and so is the contribution to basic science, particularly evolution. However, one important distinction is whether it is a true form of molecular inheritance, known as transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, or the shared effect […]
Active Demethylation: TET Enzymes, 5hmC, and CompanyJanuary 20, 20155hmC was originally discovered way back in the 50’s in bacteriophages and was first observed in mammals in the 70’s, but research into this was set back when these studies failed to replicate. And going back to the future, in 2009 two independent research groups, publishing on the same pages in science, found that this “unknown […]
Why Drugs in Dad Can Affect Your EpigenomeJanuary 15, 2015Some people aren’t always happy about what gets passed on from their parents. It’s great to have your Dad’s strong cheekbones but not so great to have his lactose intolerance. It turns out we may acquire even more from our fathers than we ever thought during our germ cell years. A new study from Elizabeth Thomas’s lab […]
