5-mC Stabilizes High-Maintenance MethyltransferasesFebruary 16, 2011Many things in life–like diets, exercise routines, and blogs–are easier to start than maintain. The same can be said for DNA methylation. De novo methyltransferases establish DNA methylation patterns in embryonic stem cells, but exactly how somatic cells maintain these patterns is puzzling. Now researchers at the University of Southern California have identified a new […]
Cocaine Keeps the LINEs JumpingFebruary 16, 2011New research surfacing in PNAS details the downward spiral cocaine induces in heterochromatin in the reward center of our brains. Over the years researchers have found that cocaine can regulate chromatin structure in the nucleus accumbens, a reward region in the brain and an area closely tied to addiction. DNA methylation machinery has also been […]
Wanted: Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Data, No Experience RequiredFebruary 15, 2011Until recently, it’s been mostly the epigenetics gurus dominating genome-wide methylation analysis publications. It makes sense, big labs means big resources. Lucky for you, those days have passed. You are now free and clear to boost your status to the next level with genome-wide methylation data and you don’t have to be an expert to […]
CoSBI Squeezes More Data From Histone MapsFebruary 14, 2011As the ‘histone code’ hypothesis gains steam, it’s become obvious that there isn’t much out there to help the chromatin research community look for combinatorial relationships between histone modifications. That’s where the Coherent and Shifted Bicluster Identification (CoSBI) algorithm comes in; to help wring even more data from genome wide histone mod maps. Not to […]
Genome-Wide Methylation Sequencing Hits the Fast LaneFebruary 11, 2011Genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing hasn’t been much more than sci-fi reading for most labs. Sure there’ve been some great papers with really slick technologies, but many researchers just don’t have access to them. In many cases, no single lab can handle the complete experimental workflow from sample prep to data management/analysis, requiring collaborations with other […]
