Neuronal Histone Modifications in AutismNovember 15, 2011Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are mostly seen as a range of mental conditions, so researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School focused in on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons of autistic individuals, and mapped their H3K4me3 epigenomes in order to better understand the complex condition. The project compared autistic PFC neuron profiles to a […]
Socio-Economic Status Leaves A Methyl Mark on DNANovember 9, 2011Candidates for public office never seem to learn that you can’t escape your past. It’s almost like they’ve never even heard of Google or YouTube or something! Speaking of not letting go of the past, we’ve seen a few papers recently suggesting that some epigenetic changes in early life can stick around for decades. Now, […]
Epigenetic Marker Maternal Blood Prenatal Trisomy 21November 8, 2011Screening for trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, is a terrifying experience for soon-to-be parents that’s made even worse by the anxiety of the invasive procedures used in today’s testing methods. Soon, though, new diagnostics based on epigenetic markers should be able to indicate prenatal trisomy 21 from just a bit of mom’s blood. A new […]
EpiGenie Review: Chromatin’s Role in CancerNovember 7, 2011There’s lots of attention, not to mention several therapeutics, focused on chromatin’s part in cancer. Take a look at some of the research featured in EpiGenie that makes chromatin such a hot topic with cancer researchers. The Role of Chromatin in Cancer Epigenetic Changes in a Hard-to-Treat Childhood Cancer A very difficult-to-treat childhood leukemia may […]
The Return of the Coding RNAsNovember 7, 2011When George Lucas penned the scripts to the Star Wars series, is it possible that he foresaw the parallels his plots would have with epigenetics? Probably not, but some new research has us thinking they share a lot in common. The non-coding RNA “dark side” of the genome has generated a lot of buzz over the last […]
