Supersizing Crops by Demethylating RNA – A New Way to End World Hunger?August 23, 2021While supersizing meals has helped to expand the waistlines of many a human “couch potato,” a seriously sumptuous new study has established that RNA demethylation induced via the expression of the human RNA demethylase FTO in potatoes results in a supersizing that could help end world hunger. The transformation of exogenous and endogenous genes has […]
A Pack of Hyenas Gets the Last Laugh: Early Social Networks Change DNA Methylation and Adult Stress IndicatorsAugust 1, 2021Ever wonder what that pack of hyenas is laughing about? Well, it may just be your social status. But don’t stress over it too much, because they’ve given us a truly wild idea in this DNA methylation marvel: Having more friends and spending more time with them in early life makes for less stress at […]
Selfies from Beyond the Grave: CelFiE Deconvolutes Cell-free DNA Methylation MessagesJuly 27, 2021Although receiving a selfie from beyond the grave might sound disturbing, posthumous snapshots from dying cells in the form of the cell-free DNA (cfDNA) they release can help prevent us from entering an early grave. Giving Snapchat a run for its money is a new program called CelFiE (CELl Free DNA Estimation via expectation-maximization), which […]
Single-cell Multi-omics of the Immune Response to VaccinationJuly 26, 2021A recent viral study revealed that SARS-CoV-2 infection alters chromatin accessibility in our all-important immune cells to facilitate immune memory – but does the same apply to vaccination? To answer this somewhat flu-mmoxing question, a flu-id force of epigeneticists led by Bali Pulendran (Stanford University, California) utilized single-cell multi-omics to explore the effects of influenza […]
Getting Cheeky with Buccal Collection Methods: The Swab vs. Saliva Cellular Heterogeneity ShowdownJuly 23, 2021There’s nothing tongue in cheek when it comes to the consideration of buccal cell heterogeneity in sample collections methods. Although buccal epithelial cells are the target given their relationship with the brain DNA methylome, immune cells come along for the ride. As the lab of Jeffery Craig (Deakin University, Australia) has previously shown, buccal epithelial cell sample collection […]
