Accelerating Histone Modification DecryptionJuly 23, 2014Unlike some reality show marriages that crack under the media spotlight, the union of automation and big data is still going strong, especially when it comes to cataloging histone post-translational modifications (PTM). Researchers from Princeton University show off a new systematic approach for figuring out just what all those histone PTM combinations are up to […]
Chromatin Packaging in Embryonic Stem Cells and SpermJuly 16, 2014Fitting all that chromatin into a tiny package is no easy ordeal, especially when pristine nuclear architecture is so crucial to things like cancer prevention. In order to learn more about the chromatin packaging of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and sperm, a team from the University of Massachusetts Medical School laid out some high-resolution nucleosome and transcription factor […]
Reaction Biology Scores NIH Grant for Epigenetic Drug DatabaseJuly 11, 2014Epigenetic databases are one of of our favorite futuristic tools and now a time traveling crew from Reaction Biology Corporation (RBC) land a grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to create an impressive database of epigenetic drug interactions. The team at RBC is undertaking a colossal effort examining a library of 1,400 compounds, including almost every FDA approved drug. […]
Targeted Chromatin Capture (T2C)July 7, 2014With great resolution comes great price and manpower requirements, so the demand for a happy medium has remained at large for all those trying to catch some chromatin conformation. New players like Capture-C have stepped up to the plate and now Researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Center (The Netherlands) announce T2C: Targeted Chromatin Capture. Chromosome conformation capture […]
Placental Biomarker Captures Maternal StressJune 30, 2014Stress has a funny way of sneaking up on you, and with the newly understood dangers of stress being transmitted across generations, keeping the drama to a minimum is huge concern for expecting mothers. So, wouldn’t it be nice to have some sort of an early stress warning device? Placental miRNAs have already been used to […]
An Introduction to Epigenetic Editing with Dr. Marianne RotsJune 23, 2014Dr. Marianne Rots, Professor of Molecular Epigenetics and Head of Epigenetic Editing Laboratory at University of Groningen, Netherlands provides an informative overview of the current state of epigenetic editing approaches. Intro to Epigenetic Editing Epigenetic editing exploits the two main characteristics of epigenetics. On the one hand, epigenetic marks are heritable. This means the epigenetic […]
Webinar: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Getting Reliable ChIP Data From Difficult SamplesJune 19, 2014Johanna Samuelsson Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at Active Motif covers some techniques to get killer data, even when your samples don’t make it easy. ChIP Overview I’m going to talk about chromatin immunoprecipitation, not necessarily focusing on all the specific details, but more the challenges with the technique, and those tricky samples that many of […]
ChIP Shows Cas9 Can Miss the MarkJune 10, 2014Staying on target has always been the CRISPR/Cas9 claim to genome editing fame, leading to incredible breakthroughs in the application of this bacterial immune system to mammals and as a cure for inherited disease. But now a sharpshooting team from the University of Virginia have used a clever application of ChIP-Seq to show that sometimes Cas9 can cause off-target effects. […]
lncRNAs Give a Shout Out to Imprinted GenesMay 22, 2014For a while there, it didn’t seem like long non-coding RNAS (lncRNAs) had very much to say on the subject of genomic imprinting. But some new evidence shows that lncRNAs have found their voice, shouting loud and clear as a cross-talk conduit between imprinted regions. Researchers from Hebrew University (Jerusalem) introduced a new concept into […]
Going ChIP-less Yields More Insights on Histone Code CombosApril 29, 2014When it comes to studying chromatin structure and histone modifications, a new technique proves that sometime less really is more, ChIP-less that is. Antibodies for individual histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) have long been the star of chromatin technology, but PTMs often act in concert to form a dynamic histone code whose combinations can interfere with antibodies attempting to bind […]
