EpiGenie Review: DNA Methylation in CancerNovember 28, 2011DNA Methylation definitely has a major role in cancer, but with the all of the different tissue types and cancer variations, it’s been nearly impossible to define exactly what that role is. That hasn’t stopped dedicated researchers from chipping away at the task, though…or EpiGenie from covering it. Check out the advances in understanding DNAm […]
Chromatin Altering Enhancers Help Genes Escape lncRNA SilencingNovember 23, 2011This holiday season, you may not be able to escape the big family dinner table, and the aunts and uncles that drink too much and bring up old arguments. But researchers at Temple University report that some genes can escape from the stranglehold of silencing that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) impose. And they do it […]
Neuronal Histone Modifications in AutismNovember 15, 2011Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are mostly seen as a range of mental conditions, so researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School focused in on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons of autistic individuals, and mapped their H3K4me3 epigenomes in order to better understand the complex condition. The project compared autistic PFC neuron profiles to a […]
EpiGenie Review: Chromatin’s Role in CancerNovember 7, 2011There’s lots of attention, not to mention several therapeutics, focused on chromatin’s part in cancer. Take a look at some of the research featured in EpiGenie that makes chromatin such a hot topic with cancer researchers. The Role of Chromatin in Cancer Epigenetic Changes in a Hard-to-Treat Childhood Cancer A very difficult-to-treat childhood leukemia may […]
The Return of the Coding RNAsNovember 7, 2011When George Lucas penned the scripts to the Star Wars series, is it possible that he foresaw the parallels his plots would have with epigenetics? Probably not, but some new research has us thinking they share a lot in common. The non-coding RNA “dark side” of the genome has generated a lot of buzz over the last […]
EpiGenie Review: Environmental Links to Epigenetics and CancerOctober 27, 2011If our daily environment can lead to cancer, and it can also alter our epigenetics, then it only makes sense that there is a connection between all three things. Here are the articles EpiGenie has written about showing the evidence linking environmental factors, and epigenetic mechanisms together with cancer. Environmental – Epigenetic Link to Cancer […]
Epigenetic Fountain of Youth Found in Worms?October 26, 2011We recently came across a hot new article that even the mainstream media has been all over. Stanford University researchers found that longevity can be passed down through generations without using DNA sequence to do it. The study found that C. elegans worms with certain histone modifications leading to increased longevity were able to pass that long […]
Shhh! RNAi Silences Yeast Heterochromatin As Cells DivideOctober 18, 2011It’s too bad that a little RNA interference (RNAi) won’t quiet down those noisy neighbors, but apparently it does the job quite well on yeast heterochromatin. Researchers from Cold Spring Harbor report that RNAi helps promote the silencing of heterochromatin during DNA replication (“S” phase), and they figured out how it all goes down in […]
Born to Lose: Histone Mods Tag Stem Cells for DNA Methylation of miRNA Loci in CancerOctober 12, 2011It’s usually not hard to spot when things seem like they’re destined for failure. Like you ne’er do well cousin, or an American car from the 80’s. Other times, closer examination is required to find the seeds of a problem. That’s what it took for scientists to uncover how some harmless embryonic stem cells (ESCs) […]
EpiGenie Review: Epigenetic Cancer Therapies and DiagnosticsOctober 10, 2011Nearly everyone has been affected by cancer in some way or another. That’s why we’re so stoked to see all of the amazing breakthroughs in cancer knowledge coming from epigenetic research these days. Will it lead to treatments or cures anytime soon? Who knows, but it sure seems like we’re on the right track. Just […]
