Book Review: Epigenetics – Current Research and Emerging TrendsJuly 2, 2015Edited by Brian P. Chadwick and composed of 17 chapters from thought leaders in academia and industry, this is one text you don’t want to miss. It covers a wide breadth of topics ranging from DNA methylation to Chromatin to ncRNA, with insight from across the tree of life and related human disorders. The perspective […]
Webinar: Advanced ChIP Normalization ControlsJune 17, 2015Abstract: Gene expression is regulated by a combination of transcription factor binding and the distribution of epigenetic modifications across regulatory regions. Much of what we know about the epigenome and gene regulation stems from our ability to determine the genome-wide distribution of histone modifications and transcription factors using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by next generation sequencing […]
Could Chromatin Organization be the Key to Eternal Youth?May 13, 2015For thousands of years great men such as Alexander the Great and Ponce de León have searched far and wide in their search for the fountain of youth and the hope of eternal life. But where they previously failed, an enterprising group of scientists may have now just succeeded! A report published recently in Science […]
Novel Primate- and Tissue Specific miRNAs with Dr Isidore RigoutsosMarch 17, 2015In this interview Dr Isidore Rigoutsos discusses his recent paper ‘Analysis of 13 cell types reveals evidence for the expression of numerous novel primate- and tissue-specific microRNAs‘ published in PNAS, February 2015. This paper shows the presence of many more miRNAs than previously thought and uncovers that the majority of these are in fact, cell-type […]
Webinar: An Engineered Synergistic CRISPR/Cas9 Activator Complex for Genome-wide Transcriptional ControlMarch 4, 2015Presenter: Silvana Konermann, Graduate Student in Dr Feng Zhang’s Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Systematic interrogation of gene function requires the ability to perturb gene expression in a robust and generalizable manner. The ease and scalability of the CRISPR-Cas9 system potentially enables systematic, genome-scale perturbation, but the magnitude of transcriptional up-regulation achieved by the first generation of Cas9 transcriptional […]
Guide: Bisulfite-Converted DNA AmplificationJanuary 12, 2015Over the years, bisulfite conversion has become the most widely used method for DNA methylation analysis. It is the most convenient and effective way to map DNA methylation to individual bases. As the first step in numerous downstream analysis techniques, it is absolutely critical that the bisulfite conversion process is understood and performed well. Our […]
Webinar: A Step-by-Step Guide to ChIP-Seq Data AnalysisJanuary 12, 2015In this webinar, Dr. Xi Chen takes publicly available real ChIP-seq data sets to show you how to perform ChIP-seq routine analysis using a combination of different online tools available. This provides an opportunity for bioinformatics beginners and wet-lab biologists who do not have much experience with unix operating systems to have an idea about […]
Genome Editing TimelineDecember 18, 2014Since its inception, the field of genetic engineering has introduced DNA to plenty of nips, tucks, and modifications all in the name of science. The latest evolution of these, genome editing, might be the most promising. Follow our favorite highlights in this rapidly moving application.
Newly Evolved Ribozyme Is Proof-of-principle for the Origin of LifeDecember 13, 2014Life is complicated. While that does apply to ordering your daily caffeine fix at Starbucks, what we’re talking about here is darwinian, entropy-defying, self-replicating life. Just to store, read, and apply genetic information requires 3 different types of molecules: DNA, RNA, and proteins. That makes it tough to imagine how life could ooze into being in […]
Embryonic Stem Cell Model Highlights Importance of Histone Mutation in Childhood TumorigenesisNovember 26, 2014Childhood cancers are truly devastating diseases; they cause major loss of young lives due to the distinct lack of treatment options stemming from the limited access to tumor tissues. Hopefully, a promising new study published in Science will change this. Researchers from the laboratory Viviane Tabar at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA […]
