Stressing Out Over MethylationNovember 11, 2009Traumatic events like getting picked last for Dodgeball in gym class can really mess with your head. And some previous research has shown that really devastating incidents, such as 9-11, can change us, even while still in the womb, as shown in this video clip we posted a while back from the PBS Ghost in […]
The Dark-side of Being a Regulatory Star: miRNA Labeling and ManipulationNovember 11, 2009It wasn’t that long ago when cellular miRNAs lived under the radar. They went to work on their targets each day and hung out with other members of the extended RISC family. Their small size and lack of poly-A tails may have kept them out of the spotlight for decades, but the last few years […]
Comparing Long ncRNAs lincRNAsNovember 11, 2009Despite all of the attention to the non-coding transcriptome lately, our knowledge about what most long intergenic non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcripts do – if indeed they do anything at all, still has more holes than a Dunkin’ Donut shop. Luckily there are folks out there willing to step in to take on the dirty job […]
Epigenetic Drugs: More Than Hype in the PipelineNovember 5, 2009It’s 10 p.m. on a Friday night, and you’re still stuck in the lab doing ChIP assays. As the piercing whine of the sonicator frays your last nerve, you ask yourself again, “Why did I go into epigenetics research…why couldn’t I have chosen something simpler and more straightforward (like rocket science)?” At times like these, […]
The Shores of CpG Islands Reveal Differences Between iPS and ES cellsNovember 5, 2009With headquarters in Del Mar, CA, you don’t have to tell us that the shores are where the action is, so it makes sense that the shores of CpG islands are a hot spot for epigenetic movers and shakers like DNAm. In fact, researchers have found evidence in the shores of CpG islands that induced […]