in vivo CRISPR Takes Aim at Key DNA Methylation Players in the BrainOctober 31, 2014Adding to the ever growing potential of genome editing, one of the latest breakthroughs from the lab of Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard puts CRISPR/Cas9 to the test with an interesting research trifecta of: in vivo genome editing focused on the brain genome editing that targeted DNA methylation machinery including key readers and writers. both […]
A CRISPR Way to Create FusionsOctober 31, 2014As CRISPR continues to evolve into the laboratory version of a Swiss Army Knife, it’s not surprising that another innovative research team have used the approach in a slick way; in this case to engineer of oncogenic chromosomal rearrangements. Chromosomal rearrangements, gene fusions, deletions and inversions are classical hallmarks of cancer. These re-arrangements lead to […]
‘Naïve’ Human Embryonic Stem Cells Found in CultureOctober 31, 2014Cultured human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) already have some idea of what they want to be when they grow up whereas cultured mouse ESCs are completely undecided about their future careers. A study published in Nature challenges this distinction and shows that some hESCs in culture still haven’t quite made up their minds. Mouse ESCs […]
Optimized Stem Cell Differentiation Protocol Aims to Mend Broken HeartsOctober 30, 2014Broken hearts aren’t just for country songs. Millions of people die each year from cardiovascular disease and related complications. Damage to the muscles of the heart during events such as heart attacks is mostly irreversible and severely affects length and quality of life for those who survive. Creating replacement muscle cells – or cardiomyocytes – […]
Histone Modification Reading Domains Crack Complex CombosOctober 30, 2014Having alternatives is always great, particularly when it comes to studying histone modifications. By using some recombinant proteins of histone reading domains, researchers from the lab of Albert Jeltsch at Stuttgart University (Germany) recently demonstrated that these domains might just one-up antibodies when it comes to deciphering the combos of the histone code. Lead author Goran Kungulovski shares that “Histone […]
