Two Barcodes, One DNA Fragment: Budget-Friendly Single-Cell Whole-Genome Bisulfite SequencingApril 29, 2018While single-cell whole-genome bisulfite sequencing is rapidly evolving, the associated price tag hasn’t been quite as dynamic. This lack of dynamism is primarily because current single-cell whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (scWGBS) methods are limited by the need to process each cell in individual reaction vessels and also low alignment rates. These limitations mean a high (financial) […]
Transposons and DNA Methylation Learn to Get AlongApril 26, 2018A lot of things just don’t mix well, dogs and cats, oil and water, and as most geneticists would agree, transposons and DNA methylation. DNA methylation is the mortal enemy of transposon activity; across the tree of life it has a conserved role silencing transposable elements from plants, to algae, to vertebrates. This suggests DNA […]
dmrseq Powers-Up Whole-Genome Bisulfite Sequencing AnalysisApril 16, 2018In our modern world, power is everything. Whether it be political, social, or even statistical, humankind always thirsts for more. While political and social power may be a little beyond our scope, a new bioinformatic package has come forth to power up your ability to detect differentially methylated regions (DMRs) from whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) […]
If You Snooze, You Lose: DNA Methylation Loss at Late Replicating Regions Tracks Cellular AgingApril 13, 2018“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise!” While many night owls happily ignore this sage advice and enjoy a few extra hours in bed in the mornings, a new study regarding DNA methylation dynamics in normal and cancer cells gives credence to the old axiom “If you snooze, […]
Classification Conundrums: DNA Methylation and Central Nervous System TumorsApril 13, 2018It’s human nature to categorize the world around us. From the earliest taxonomic classification defining us as Homo sapiens, we’ve grouped dogs by breed (pugs, bulldogs, retrievers), wines by grape (merlots, chardonnays, pinot noirs), and of course, cancers by origin (gliomas, melanomas, sarcomas). You can order a DNA test for your dog, or ask the […]
Don’t Blame Mom, Thank Her! Extra Maternal Care Creates a Stress Resilient Epigenomic Profile in the Developing BrainApril 10, 2018Stress is something we are all too familiar with. When it comes down to a stressful situation, it seems that there are almost two types of people: those stricken by anxiety and depression, and those who keep on walking on as if nothing has happened. But what shapes such a distinction between people? One contributing […]
Hemimethylated CpGs: Paradox or Paradigm?!March 28, 2018Science is full of paradoxes, and while we humble epigeneticists have yet to come across a cat that is both alive and dead, we have discovered a mysterious states of DNA methylation! For instance, some CpG sites can be both methylated and unmethylated at the same time, depending on which strand it is located on. […]
Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance of a Trio of Epigenomic Changes Induced by DDTMarch 27, 2018DNA methylation has long been the shining star of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance work, with other mechanisms signing backup. But now, the solo act has now become a trio, with histone modifications and non-coding (ncRNA) stepping into the limelight. For an in utero exposure to be truly transgenerational, and not an intergenerational effect, it must impact […]
Cutting Through the Epigenetic Complexities Linking Aging and TumorigenesisMarch 16, 2018Writing your first grant proposal? Optimizing that tricky Western blot? Programming an old PCR machine? Only a few things are more complex than our current understanding of the epigenetic links between aging and tumorigenesis, but this has not stopped a few valiant labs from doubling down and busting a few paradigms while they are at […]
Epigenetics Meets Cartography: Precision Mapping of Single Nucleosomes and LinkersMarch 14, 2018While we’ve asked before how nucleosomes find their way to the right spot on DNA, sometimes we’re left staring at sea monsters in the most tantalizing unexplored areas on our genome-wide maps. When it comes to nucleosomes, positioning is everything since it affects DNA accessibility for replication, repair, and gene expression. In order to understand […]
