Identical twins are known for having some pretty out of this world similarities. Picking the same clothes, feeling the other’s pain, and often going into the same careers. The latter is true for Mark and Scott Kelly, monozygotic twins who also both happen to have been trained as astronauts. Twins are a favorite model system […]
- Chromatin
The Relationship Between CTCF and DNA Methylation? It’s Complicated…
Everyone knows one of those couples who keeps getting together and breaking up, as if they’re trying to decide how much they like each other. Well the chromatin architectural protein CTCF and DNA methylation have one of those relationships, and it just got more complicated! For years, we’ve been trying to decipher whether DNA methylation always prevents […]
Sugar Sticks it to Histones and Causes Problems for Chromatin Architecture
Many of us have been lectured by our dentist about eating those delicious, sticky candies. Now, as it turns out, those cavity-causing sugars not only stick to your teeth but can stick to your histones too! Through a non-enzymatic process known as glycation, a glucose group is covalently attached to specific amino acids, which can […]
Histone Demethylases Have a “Sixth Sense” about Oxygen Levels!
Many people make dubious claims of being endowed with more than the five traditionally recognized senses; their “sixth sense” providing the extrasensory perception needed to converse with spirits and ghosts and predict the future, among other fanciful claims. While there is a lack of any evidence for extrasensory powers and paranormal activity, robust studies have […]
Inflammation in the Information Age: Multi-Tissue Chromatin and Transcriptional States of Mammalian Aging
We’re living in the information age―the age of supercomputers, big data, and machine learning―and the epigenetics field is capitalizing on these capabilities. New research from the lab of Anne Brunet at Stanford University harnesses the power of the ‘information age’ to provide insight on the ‘inflammation age’―that is, changes in the epigenetic landscape that lead […]