Patient Specific iPSCs Team Up with CRISPR/Cas9August 12, 2014Some villains are so tough that it might take a few heroes to take them on. β-thalassemia is just that evil, an all too common genetic disease at the worldwide level. Caused by simple mutations in the hemoglobin beta (HBB) gene, this beast is Mendelian in nature. Which makes a perfect target for CRISPR/Cas9, a duo with […]
The Embryonic Journey of DNA Methylation DynamicsAugust 5, 2014Two recent Nature papers made big strides in understanding mammalian embryonic DNA methylation. The Meissner and Eggan team from Harvard focused in on CpG dynamics and how they compare to mice, specifically in terms of parental contribution. While the Qian and Tang team from Bejing examined how DNAm effects the epigenetic embryonic landscape in terms of histone […]
Gazing at Your Local Epiproteome with CRISPR-ChAP-MSAugust 4, 2014For those of you who were thinking the CRISPR/Cas9 system was just limited to genome editing, think again because the story just got a new twist. Almost like combining the bullet speed of Superman with the hi-tech gadgets of Batman, Alan Tackett and colleagues come up with a new tool to look at all the […]
Rapid Assessment of CRISPR Genome EditingAugust 3, 2014Well begun is half done. But if you are making a CRISPR knock-out mouse, it is hard to tell early enough whether you’ve begun well. Thankfully, a talented team of researchers in Japan led by Takayuki Sakurai have now optimized an assay that helps you do just that – predict if you are on the […]
The Long and Short of It: ZFNs are Choosey About Repeat LengthAugust 2, 2014In a classic switcheroo, a talented research team led by ChongHua Ren inserted a repeat-flanked Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) binding site right in the middle of the transcription factor Gal4, shifting control of Gal4 expression to capricious homologous recombination events. ZFNs edit the genome at specific locations by cutting DNA at the endonuclease site. When […]
