DNA Methylation Adds Variety to Human PopulationsAugust 7, 2013If variety is the spice of life, then DNA methylation sure seems to be supplying some of the flavor. A new study shows that DNA methylation isn’t just responsible for the differences in individuals, but for variations in populations as well. We’re no strangers to the way that DNA methylation can differ in diseases and […]
Purity By Design – Zymo Research Cleans Up DNA for Epigenetic AnalysisAugust 6, 2013Question the design of your spin column. All spin columns are not created equal, and designs from some other companies may result in buffer retention, even after centrifugation. The buffer carry-over can contain high concentrations of salts, detergents, and other buffer components that are eventually eluted from the column along with your DNA or RNA […]
MeCP2, Rett Syndrome and Getting to Know the Brain with Dr. Adrian BirdAugust 6, 2013Dr. Adrian Bird discusses what MeCP2 has to do with Rett Syndrome, and researchers still have a long way to go towards understanding the human brain. MeCP2, Rett Syndrome and Getting to Know the Brain with Dr. Adrian Bird I think the protein we work on, MeCP2, which recognizes methylated DNA, we knew it recognized […]
Vitamin C in Media Critical for ES Cell 5hmCJuly 24, 2013Whether its pop culture (like the ongoing royal baby mania) or cell culture, there’s no denying the enormous impact that ‘media’ has on our life. In fact, new evidence shows that a little Vitamin C in cell culture media can influence mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, like typical pre-teens, to undergo a blastocyst-like identity crisis. […]
The Dynamic EpigenomeJuly 24, 2013EpiGenie recently reviewed the text Epigenetics by Jorg Tost. Here is a more in depth summary of one the chapters provided courtesy of JA Gill who is molecular biologist at NOAA in the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, to give you a little sneak peek into what the whole book is all about: The Dynamic Epigenome: […]
Disrupting DMNT1’s Cancerous InteractionsJuly 9, 2013It seems like almost every gene examined today has it roots in cancer, and epigenetic mechanisms haven’t missed the invite to that party. But with all these players comes an overwhelming heterogeneity that has troubled researchers looking for a cure ever since cancer was described as an epigenetic disease. Some research groups have tried out […]
Turn by Turn Navigation of DNA Methylation Maps in the Human Brain Now AvailableJuly 9, 2013Whoever claims cartography is a lost art hasn’t visited the Salk Institute lately. The cliffside research palace in La Jolla is home to a number of ambitious researchers who’ve been busy the last few years mapping every nook and cranny of the epigenome. Most recently, a team of clever researchers led the charge on mapping “genome-wide composition, […]
The Darkside of Epigenetic PlasticityJune 26, 2013Sure, genes get mutated in cancers, but the epigenome gets messed-up too. In fact, two researchers argue in a recent review that a “dysregulated epigenome” that’s too plastic and flexible could itself lead to cancer. Andrew Feinberg and Winston Timp, both from the Center for Epigenetics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, wrote the […]
DeepSAGE Digs up Expression Differences in 3’ EndsJune 24, 2013It isn’t always a good thing to get the end of something, but researchers say that by grabbing onto 3’ ends of transcripts and tagging them, DeepSAGE digs deep, getting low-level transcripts and getting new info on their “back-ends.” That could be important for figuring out exactly how gene expression changes with disease. “It was […]
Application Note: Automated Bisulfite ConversionJune 14, 2013Unlike more mainstream assays, bisulfite conversion approaches have been dependent on manual manipulation of spin plates and columns or have been of limited throughput. By adapting the clean-up of bisulfite converted DNA to a magnetic bead based procedure and coupling it to the Freedom EVO® platform, Zymo Research has opened the door to high-throughput bisulfite […]
