Epigenetic Editing with CRISPR Keeps Crops Crisp in Today’s ClimateFebruary 25, 2019While the crisper drawer of our fridge is the best way to keep our produce fresh, epigenetic editing research now brings forth CRISPR-based manipulation of DNA methylation to keep our crops crisp. This tasty treat comes at you in the form of two new publications from the lab of Steven Jacobsen (UCLA), where the talented team expand […]
When Two Is Not Better Than One: Duplicitous Dipeptides Disrupt Heterochromatin to Promote NeurodegenerationFebruary 25, 2019While some protein aficionados may believe that the only thing better than one peptide is a dipeptide, a study from the lab of Leonard Petrucelli (Mayo Clinic, USA) recently established that the expansion of double-dealing dipeptide repeats promotes the development of neurodegenerative disease via the disruption of heterochromatin structure and function. The diseases in question, […]
Orange You Glad for Methylation’s Role in Fruit Ripening?February 12, 2019If you like to start your day with a glass of orange juice, you can thank epigenetics for that. More specifically, you can thank DNA methylation, since it’s been recently shown to play a crucial role in the ripening process of the sweet orange fruit. The collaborative efforts of Jian-Kang Zhu at Purdue University (Indiana, […]
Histone Methyltransferase Loss Disconnects the Autistic BrainFebruary 12, 2019Connection and communication represent two crucial concepts in the massive and complex network that is the mammalian brain; therefore, the disruption of neural connections during early development may promote the onset of neurodevelopmental disorders. Previous studies have linked the histone methyltransferase SETD5 with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which inspired researchers from the lab of Alysson […]
ChIP-seq SNFs Out the Epigenomic Impact of SWI/SNF Loss in Paediatric Brain TumorsFebruary 8, 2019Cancer researchers have been SNFing around the role of the SWI/SNF complex for a long time. By SWItching to a ChIP-seq approach, novel details about how biallelic loss of a key gene promotes a cancerous epigenome have been uncovered. SWI/SNF (or BAF) is a chromatin remodeling complex and a key regulator of early development that […]