DNA Methylation Links Low Maternal Folate with Neural Tube DefectsMarch 1, 2011Increasing evidence supports that mom’s parental duties start way before birth. Make sure you do this…don’t do that, but don’t stress over it. It’s great to see researchers starting to get a hold of the “why” behind all the rules. Not getting enough folate from mom puts fetuses at risk for neural tube defects such […]
Stressed Out Moms MethylateMarch 1, 2011Raising babies is a stressful thing, made even more so when Mom herself is raised: a meter high on a Plexiglas platform, while she’s pregnant, that is. The effect on her kids – er, pups – is manifest in brain and body weight, in behavioral development, and even epigenetically. Researchers from the University of Lethbridge […]
Going Big in Small Samples with the Magna ChIP-Seq™ KitMarch 1, 2011It used to be that smaller, data-rich samples lived peacefully below the threshold of utility where they were safe from the scientific ambitions of researchers. Not anymore. Recent innovations have really come together in products like Millipore’s Magna ChIP-Seq™ Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and Next Generation Sequencing Library Preparation Kit, that have small samples scrambling for cover. How […]
miRNPs Offer Support to miRNA SeedsFebruary 28, 2011Everyone appreciates a little extra support now and then, and a new study shows that miRNAs, or more specifically their seed regions, do too. The report in NAR uncovered that micro-ribonucleoprotein complexes (miRNPs) get miRNAs ready to take care of their mRNA targeting business by shoring up the structure of miRNA seed regions, which is […]
Turning Back the Clock: Epigenetics, iPSCs and AgingFebruary 25, 2011Aging can be a real downer, but for some individuals premature aging is a lot more serious than a few aches and pains the morning after some touch football. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare and fatal genetic disorder where the victims speed through aging. It is caused by a point mutation in the […]
