Genome Synthesis vs. DNA Methylation: A Battle for One-Carbon with Dr. Patrick StoverNovember 19, 2013Dr. Patrick Stover discusses the competition between genome synthesis and DNA methylation for the use of available folate and one-carbons. The Balancing Act of Folate Metabolism So one of the primary focus of our laboratory is trying to link how changes in metabolism affect specific disease outcomes. And we’re most interested in neural tube defects […]
Natural (Epi)genetic Variation: A Role for Lineage Determining Transcription FactorsOctober 25, 2013The intimate tango between epigenome and evolution has just taken an interesting spin. With 88% of candidate loci from GWAS (genome wide association studies) pointing toward non-coding regions, the potential for acquired epigenetic marks to explain missing heritability, cross generations, and add variety to populations, offers huge potential for understanding natural variation and evolution, which […]
Long Distance Relationship in the Genome with Dr. Frank GrosveldOctober 24, 2013Dr. Frank Grosveld discusses distal interactions in the genome and how these might be less directed than generally thought. Long Distance Relationship in the Genome Well, I’m most excited about something that I have been working on for a long time. Which is basically how bits of the genome interact with each other. So we […]
We are the 98%: Intergenic Regions (Finally) Get Some BuzzOctober 11, 2013Many chose to focus on the ‘wealthy’ two percent of our genome that produces protein, but we’ve always found the other 98% to be much more interesting. Thankfully, we’re past the days of referring to non-coding, intergenic regions as ‘Junk DNA’, and new research is proving how scientifically rich they really are. Dr. Emily Hodges […]
A Crash Course in Folate, Nutrition, and DNA Methylation Regulation with Dr. Patrick StoverOctober 10, 2013Dr. Patrick Stover, PhD, the Director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, provides a great overview of the key role of folate in one-carbon metabolism, and DNA methylation in nutrition. Folate, Nutrition, and DNA Methylation Regulation There’s a long history in the whole field of folate metabolism, one-carbon metabolism, that outcomes […]
R-Loops and GC-skew Predicts Epigenetic Effects of CpG IslandsOctober 9, 2013With the EpiGenie Fortune Telling Machine in the shop most of the time, it’s pretty difficult for us to predict much of anything. (Yeah, we didn’t see the whole ‘twerking’ phenomenon coming either!) But some enterprising researchers have developed a way to classify and predict the epigenetic and transcriptional activities of various promoter regions based […]
Inducible Models Breathe New Life into Epigenetic Inheritance StudiesOctober 8, 2013Food, toxins, and stress can all have enormous effects on the epigenome, but pinning down the true epigenetic mechanisms at work is the tricky part. While it’s been difficult to determine mechanisms of action in standard animal models, new ones have been developed using Tetracyline-induced systems, that make it much simpler to tease out how […]
Trinucleotide Repeat (TNR) Disease Cheat SheetSeptember 16, 2013Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) diseases are some of the latest disorders to be linked to epigenetic state. So Dr. Marguerite Evans-Galea and colleagues at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and The University of Melbourne, wrote up this review to act as a sort of cheat sheet for the mounting evidence of epigenetic mechanisms in TNR. This […]
Webinar: Epigenomics – One Molecule at a Time with Dr. Paul SolowaySeptember 16, 2013Dr. Paul Soloway, PhD discusses his latest work on technologies that enable the interrogation of epigenetic marks on a single molecule. **this webinar is no longer available** Epigenomic analyses are used for many applications, including discovering gene regulatory mechanisms; characterizing non-genetic transmission modes of adaptive and disease traits; identifying and detecting disease biomarkers; and for […]
Zymo ChIP DNA Clean & Concentrator™: A New Twist on Chromatin ImmunoprecipitationSeptember 10, 2013If you’re one of those researchers who has been avoiding ChIP experiments like the plague because of the aggravating low yields and poor quality ChIP DNA associated with traditional ChIP protocols, then it’s time to give the ChIP DNA Clean & Concentrator™ (ChIP DCC™) Kit from Zymo Research a whirl. The ChIP DCC™ is a […]
