Chromatin Remodelers In Search of Mr. RightOctober 26, 2010For the first time, the molecular machines known as “chromatin remodelers” have been found to spend much of their time rapidly searching for their nucleosome soulmates. And, just like desperate singles at a Speed Dating party, they keep at it until they find the right one. Chromatin remodelers help organize the genome, control DNA accessibility, […]
The miRNA Trade Deficit in CancerOctober 25, 2010Balancing imports and exports can be a tough task for any entity. It turns out cancer cells have a major issues when it comes to exporting pre-miRNA between the nucleus and cytoplasm that can have a pretty nasty impact on cellular homeostasis. miRNA expression profiles in tumors typically show a down regulation of miRNA expression. […]
PfuTurbo Cx Hotstart DNA Polymerase Boosts Your BS-Seq PerformanceOctober 19, 2010Amplifying converted DNA is one of the trickiest steps in any Bisulfite conversion based protocol. A mistake here could stop your study cold if the amplification fails, or worse yet, you might be introducing errors that you won’t see until you’ve spent hours combing through useless sequencing data. Pfu-Turbo Cx Hotstart DNA Polymerase from Agilent’s Stratagene […]
Comparative Epigenomics Branches OutOctober 19, 2010When you’re comparing epigenomes, it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. Because the epigenetic “fruit” on each nucleotide can vary with factors like cell type, differentiation state, and the environment, it’s often tricky to spot patterns on the epigenome-wide scale. In a recent Nature Biotechnology commentary, Aleksandar Milosavlijevic of the NIH Epigenomics Roadmap […]
How to Tame the MethylomeOctober 18, 2010So many ways to analyze genomic DNA methylation, so little time (and money). With so many choices available these days it’s not easy to figure out the best method to use for methylome studies. A new survey of two Nature Biotechnology papers by Stephan Beck from the UK’s University College London puts together the vital […]
