Optogenetic Epigenetic Editing of DNA Methylation Puts You in Control of Stem Cell FateFebruary 16, 2017In Greek mythology, the fates forge the strings of life that control our lives and choose the moment of its end. We mere mortals yearn for such powers and we are now one step closer to the light thanks to an optogenetic epigenome editing system that lets you write and erase DNA methylation to control […]
Large Chromatin Domains Drive Pancreatic Cancer’s Sugar RushFebruary 14, 2017A sugar rush can fuel many things. It can power the late-night experiments demanded by reviewer number 3 or it can drive tumor evolution. Fueled by both these factors, new insight into the linked metabolic-epigenetic mechanisms of metastasis comes at you from a collaborative effort led by the lab of Andrew Feinberg in the Center […]
Copy Number Variation and Environmental Exposure Unwrap the DNA Methylation Storage Box of AutismDecember 29, 2016Preparing for a big event takes a lot of work; whether it be the holidays or developing a brain’s epigenome, keeping a storage box ready to go for the situation just makes sense. In their latest publication, the lab of Janine LaSalle at the University of California – Davis unwrap the epigenetic storage box of […]
dCas9-Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L Methyltransferase Seeds a Nuclear ReactionDecember 15, 2016Some scientific breakthroughs are so transformative that there’s no containing their spread once they’ve seeded. By engineering cellular nuclear reactions with a biochemical twist, the most powerful deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) methyltransferase explodes from the lab of Tomasz Jurkowski at the University of Stuttgart. The free energy of this reaction forges not only a new tool […]
Get Focused with MethylCheck™ Targeted DNA Methylation StudiesDecember 9, 2016Sure genome-wide DNA methylation studies steal a lot of the limelight, but often it’s targeted DNA methylation studies that handle all of that much-needed data validation, or those deeper dives into key methylated regions. That’s where targeted bisulfite sequencing shines. When you combine the reigning champ of DNA methylation analysis with next-generation sequencing, you get […]
Dnmt3C: A New Piece of DNA Methylation MachineryNovember 24, 2016A dog walk in the countryside led to Velcro, the search for chest pain therapies gave us (who me?) Viagra, and a messy microbiology lab bench provided penicillin. Some big research discoveries appear to have arrived in an “accidental” form and maybe, just maybe, new research from the laboratory of Déborah Bourc’his can be spoken […]
SALL4A Sets the Mood for a DNA Demethylation TET-á-TETNovember 16, 2016A romantic “tête-à-tête” between two lovebirds usually involves helping factors which set the mood and make the night move along slickly. A good wine, some soft lighting, and maybe even a little smooth jazz! While that might work for the humble researcher, the “TET-á-TET” involved in DNA demethylation is a slightly different affair and demands […]
Variation in CpG Methylation is Tied to Biological AgingOctober 19, 2016There aren’t many things in this world that we can be certain about, but aging marks an all too important exception. Towards the goal of understanding the marks of this unavoidable process, we’ve seen the epigenetic clock, which looks at CpG sites that are certainly differentially methylated as we age. However, a new perspective to […]
Meta-Analysis Reveals Grim Reaper is Keeping an Eye On Your Epigenetic ClockOctober 19, 2016They say ‘Seasons don’t fear the reaper’, and while the festivities of this season certainly favor the reaper, most of us dread the reaper’s favor. Our understanding of how to avoid that favor is now improving, thanks to some new insight from the epigenetic clock-watching lab of Steve Horvath at UCLA. The epigenetic clock consists […]
Cancer Stem Cells Refuse to be Linked to Linker Histone H1.0October 19, 2016It is widely known that tumor lesions harbor diverse subpopulations of cell types each genetically and phenotypically unique. However, it is not always clear which cell types are actually promoting or sustaining the tumor. Typically, tumors consist of two class of cells—a subpopulation of cells that are fully differentiated and possess little to none tumor […]
