A Rewired Metabolism Links the Aging Epigenome to Vision LossMay 16, 2020They say hindsight is 20/20, but for those of us looking over at a lifetime of memories, things might seem a little blurrier through our aging eyes. That’s because, unlike the fine wines, delectable whiskies, and smelly cheeses that we love to catabolize, the human epigenome tends not to age very well and a wide […]
Preprint Alert: Single-nucleus Mouse Brain Atlases of DNA Methylation and Chromatin AccessibilityMay 15, 2020When exploring the epigenetic landscape, it’s easy to get lost in the jungle of cell types. Thankfully, some exciting new preprints now bring forth much needed single-nucleus atlases to guide your voyage of the mouse brain. We’re no strangers to cunning cartography that has emerged from the lab of Joe Ecker (Salk Institute, California). They’ve […]
Cannabis and Tobacco Produce a Double Hit on the EpigenomeMay 12, 2020While the epigenetic impacts of cannabis have been seen in sperm and adolescents, the effects on adults have not been well studied in large-scale studies. It’s commonly believed that smoking cannabis is less damaging than smoking tobacco; however, this is not backed by an abundance of actual data. Smoking tobacco is associated with numerous DNA […]
There’s More Than One Way to Scare A Mouse: Z-DNA and ADAR1 Add to Fear ExtinctionMay 5, 2020There’s already some histone modifications, and a dash of non-coding RNA, but new research adds another ingredient to the epigenetic recipe of fear memories and it’s called Z-DNA! Z-DNA occurs when the DNA molecule forms a left-handed double helix rather than the right-handed structure that we’re used to. This inside-out conformation is enriched at actively […]
Adolescent Cannabis Use Primes an Epigenetic Gateway to Cocaine AddictionMay 2, 2020When it comes to preparing for a future situation, our epigenome usually has our back; however, sometimes epigenetic alterations can prime some undesirable responses as a result of environmental exposure. With legalization occurring in many states and nations, research into how cannabis alters our epigenome has entered the spotlight. We have recently seen that cannabis […]
