Architectural Woes Prompt Age-related Problems Thanks to Genes Lacking CpG IslandsJanuary 20, 2022As cracks to walls and beams can lead to an old house coming apart at the seams, the architectural alterations associated within an aging nucleus can prompt degenerative processes at the cell and tissue level. While any good architect can identify and help to sure up the problematic elements bringing down the house, the blueprints […]
scAge – A Single-cell DNA Methylation Clock Details Epigenetic Aging and RejuvenationJanuary 10, 2022With the new year comes a fresh start, but does the aging epigenome of each one of our cells share this sentiment? To help get your new year off to the right start, a new program known as “scAge” allows the determination of the age of single cells via DNA methylation and reveals insight into […]
How to Change Your (Mini) Mind: 5hmC’s Role in Neurodevelopment and Alzheimer’s DiseaseJune 13, 2021Although it may seem like neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration don’t have much in common, exciting new results on the dynamics of 5hmC in forebrain organoids may just change your mind. 5hmC is enriched in the brain, important in neurodevelopment, and suspected to be relevant to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) progression. However, due to a lack of human samples and appropriate disease models it has been difficult to study how 5hmC distribution changes during early brain development and AD. In […]
A “Batty” New Epigenetic Clock Provides Clues About Healthy AgingApril 8, 2021Are you cuckoo for clocks, dotty for DNA methylation, and avid about aging? Well, a “batty” new study of epigenetic aging in certain long-lived winged mammals has just added to the zoo of clues about epigenetic age by providing a bat epigenetic clock. Specifically, an ardent team of researchers led by the levels heads of […]
The Epigenetic Clock – From Deep Space to Deep LearningDecember 30, 2020As the year comes to its end, our epigenetic clocks keep on ticking, and hot new DNA methylation-based studies keep rolling in. Here, we gaze into two deeply interesting studies that take us on an epigenetic journey from deep space to deep learning by reporting how space travel can influence epigenetic aging and how neural […]
Reprogramming Helps to “Turn Back Time” on the Epigenetic Clock and Restore Lost VisionDecember 14, 2020Back in the days of big hair and masses of leather, Cher wanted to “turn back time” if she could find a way! Well, get your stockings and suspenders ready and head for the docks, as her eighties “vision” may be on the cusp of coming true with the help of epigenetic reprogramming! Specifically, resear-Cher-s […]
Racing Against the Epigenetic Clock: PRDM8 and Premature AgingOctober 5, 2020Scientists are always working against the clock, and recently, a team led by Wolfgang Wagner (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) used their ever-evaporating time to explore a potential link between telomere shortening and epigenetic clock acceleration in premature-aging associated bone marrow failure syndromes and describe a new disease biomarker! Patients with premature aging and difficult-to-diagnose bone […]
Common DNA Methylation Aging Profiles Convert Dog to Human Years Better Than EverJuly 20, 2020They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but it turns out you can use new epigenomic tricks to tell you how old a dog is. The heuristic that to get a dogs age in human years, you multiply by seven is a little simplistic, and due for an update using epigenomic insights. […]
Early-Life BPA Exposure Accelerates Epigenetic Aging and Creates a Ticking Timebomb for Metabolic Disease that a Western Diet IgnitesJuly 3, 2020While we hope that any silly errors and childish pranks of our formative years don´t follow us into adulthood, it now seems that certain experiences during early development are indeed carried into adulthood without our knowledge, where an activating trigger can lead to trouble and strife! Specifically, exposure to any number of environmental stressors during […]
Disrupted LADs Drive Epigenetic Alterations in Human Early-onset AgingJune 22, 2020The “driver” represents a crucial part of a successful Formula One team, a decent score at golf, and even a well-planned bank heist (!), and working out those factors that drive the onset of various diseases and disorders may provide critical mechanistic insight and even aid the development of novel therapeutic approaches. In the early-onset […]
