The Single-Cell Trifecta: Nucleosome Occupancy, DNA Methylation, and Gene ExpressionFebruary 27, 2018While recent advancements let us map the epigenome of a single-cell, the same studies can leave us a bit single-minded when facing the many layers of the epigenetic landscape. Thankfully, to quench our integrative omics thirst, a clever new technique reveals that just because you’re looking at single cells doesn’t mean you only need to […]
dCas9-Tet1 to the Rescue: Maintained DNA Demethylation of Fragile X Syndrome NeuronsFebruary 26, 2018The call for a rescue operation often makes humanity turn to its latest and greatest tools and equipment. Whether it’s firefighters with water jetpacks or cutting-edge epigenetic editing technology, threats to human kind don’t have it easy these days. In their latest report, the epigenetic emergency response team from the labs of Rudolf Jaenisch and […]
Placeholder Nucleosomes Prevent DNA Methylation to Promote Embryo Progress!February 26, 2018After coming up against an impassable obstacle, researchers often need to hold their place in one research line and open up another to explore new investigational avenues and uncover new and unexpected findings. The study of epigenetics during fertilization and the early development of human embryos remains a challenging task on multiple levels, thus making […]
DNA Methylation Links Prenatal Famine Exposure to Adulthood Metabolic Conditions 6 Decades Later!February 18, 2018Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands are back at it again: studying the long-term epigenetic effects of prenatal famine utilizing the Dutch Hunger Winter Cohort. The Dutch Hunger Winter was a famine that devastated the Netherlands in the winter of 1944-1945 amidst WWII, which produced a cohort that were in utero during […]
Oh Sugar! Gestational Fructose Exposure Linked to Long-Term Brain DNA Methylation ChangesFebruary 16, 2018Here at EpiGenie, we don’t like to sugar-coat our headlines. The sickly-sweet truth is that fructose can be pretty bad for your health. Fructose has become a common additive in many foods in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. Sugary drinks are one of the most common forms. Heavy soft drink consumption is linked to […]
Epigenetic Aging Analysis Suggests That TERT Isn´t the Anti-aging Target You Are Looking For!February 13, 2018This isn’t some sort of Jedi mind trick, we promise, but TERT may not be the anti-aging target you are looking for! TERT, or telomerase reverse transcriptase, plays an essential role in the elongation and maintenance of telomeres and as telomeres shorten with age, many surmise that activation of TERT represents an exciting approach to […]
Epigenetic Editing Misses the Mark: dCas9-DNMT3A Causes Off-Target Genome-Wide DNA HypermethylationFebruary 12, 2018While we’ve been captivated by the powerful applications of precision epigenetic editing via deactivated Cas9 (dCas9), we’ve also been mesmerized by the fact that epigenetic editing doesn’t always work as expected. Building on our need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, new findings from the lab of Alexander Meissner at […]
Epigenetic and Mitochondrial Clocks Synchronously Accelerate with Bipolar DisorderJanuary 18, 2018A wise man once said that time is relative, and while physics was on his mind, it seems that biology should have been as well. For instance, patients with bipolar disorder suffer from accelerated aging. However, examinations of telomere length have given mixed results, and this inspired the lab of Joao Quevedo in the University […]
Single-Cell DNA Methylomes Reveal the Reprograming Secrets of Early Human EmbryosJanuary 16, 2018You’ve heard before that timing is everything, and this is doubly true in developmental biology. New research out of Fuchou Tang’s lab (Peking University, Beijing) singles in on the timing of methylation changes during embryonic development, and exposes the delicate epigenetic dance of global demethylation and targeted remethylation. Tang’s lab is no stranger to embryonic […]
TET Proteins: Defending Differentiation by denying de novo Methylation!December 13, 2017I don´t overeat! I’m not lazy! I’m not eating the agar plates when I´m working in the lab late, honest! Psychologists consider denial as one of our most primitive defense mechanisms and recent studies of epigenetic defense mechanisms in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) by the labs of Olivier Elemento (Weill Cornell Medical College) and Danwei […]