LEXY: Optogenetic Nuclear Export for Proteins Looking to Go PlacesMarch 2, 2016Optogenetics is one of the flashier techniques of the past decade. Instead of slow chemical or blunt physical interventions, optogenetics controls events inside cells with the timing and precision of a beam of light. Optogenetic success stories thus far include light-activated neuron firing, heart beating, organelle positioning, protein dimerization, membrane localization, gene editing, and import […]
Aspirin and lncRNA Team Up on TumorsMarch 1, 2016Over 100 years ago, the founder of chemotherapy, Paul Ehrlich, coined the term “magic bullet” to describe an ideal therapeutic agent used to target disease, such as cancer. Since then, we have assessed many different anti-tumorigenic compounds, although we are only beginning to understand just how some of these bullets hit their target. This understanding, […]
Guide: Optimizing ChIP Seq for FFPE SamplesFebruary 25, 2016Inside the world’s formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue repositories exists an enormous store of biological information. This valuable preservation technique allows researchers to perform histological and even genetic analysis years after sample collection. Although the FFPE process is a valuable preservation process, it presents challenges to researchers seeking to apply epigenetic techniques such as chromatin immunoprecipitation […]
MeRIP-seq, N1-methyladenosine (m1A), and the Expanding EpitranscriptomeFebruary 23, 2016There’s no denying that understanding a new language can be tricky. Without a complete alphabet, the most important messages can be lost in translation. When it comes to complex languages, the epigenome is no exception. There are a number of RNA base modifications involved in post transcriptional regulation, including pseudouridine (Ψ) and 5hmC, and there’s […]
SynNotch: A USB Cord For CellsFebruary 23, 2016If synthetic biology is trying to make cells more like computers, one thing that has been sorely lacking is input-output. It’s hard to get arbitrary information about the outside environment into cells. We do have some sensors that we can modify to sense different inputs, like chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) for T-cells, but they only […]