Fire Up Your Methylation Analysis With QIAGEN’s PyroMark CpG AssaysApril 26, 2011Fast, inexpensive, and accurate, pyrosequencing has become a go-to method for many researchers looking for quantitative methylation data. Designing methylation assays using primers for bisulfite converted DNA can be tricky though, and dealing with assay optimization is no small feat either. Fortunately those worries go up in smoke with QIAGEN’s new PyroMark CpG Assays. Custom […]
Sperm Nucleosome Retention is All Off BaseApril 19, 2011There are lots of ways sperm cells are different from other cell types, but a new PLoS Genetics paper focused on one way in particular, chromatin structure, in order to find out what those differences mean and where they come from.In most cells, DNA is packaged up into nucleosomes, but in sperm, nucleosomes are only […]
OneStep For DNAm qPCR, One Giant Leap For DNAm AnalysisApril 19, 2011In the past, the route to locus-specific methylation detection resembled more of a brutal molecular biology pentathlon than a microfuge tube. If you’re into that kind of abuse, that’s cool, but you probably won’t be interested in Zymo’s new OneStep qMethyl™ Kit. This slick system closes the lid on the old school tool set and […]
DNA Methylation Keeps iPS Cells Living in the PastApril 19, 2011Some people are convinced that they’ve lived a past life, recalling snippets of someone else’s memories from a different time and place. Now, without the benefit of hypnosis, researchers have discovered that induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells also retain transcriptional memories of past lives as somatic cells, which can be at least partially explained by […]
DNA Methylation May be Secret to Dieting SuccessApril 13, 2011The theory behind most diets seems simple enough: Eat less calories; Lose more weight. But we all know that’s way easier said than done, and now there’s some epigenetic reasons why. A new study found that promoter methylation of key obesity linked genes can predict the success of low-calorie diets. Researchers from the University of […]
