Hydroxymethylcytosine Shakes Up the Epigenetics CommunityApril 15, 20105-hydroxymethylcytosine’s (5-hmC) discovery last year in mammalian DNA (Kriaucionis & Heintz, Science, 2009. and Tahiliani et al., Science, 2009), left the epigenetics community more shaken than a 007 martini. Although its broader role (if any) in epigenetics remains a mystery today, early evidence suggests a few putative mechanisms that could have big implications: Conversion of […]
Decoding Autism’s Epigenetic RiddleApril 14, 2010Autism is a developmental disorder that’s shrouded in mystery. Its causes are unknown and hotly debated, but some recent detective work hints that through changes in miRNA expression and DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns, there is an epigenetic link. Autism often brings to mind Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man, who was deeply focused on only […]
RNA Binding Proteins Get miRNA Regulation Turned OnApril 14, 2010With all of the big energy conservation campaigns over the years, not many people understand flipping-switches like Southern Californians. You can’t get through a Lakers game without being reminded to turn the lights off, or adjust your thermostat. It appears that some researchers from the Institute of Microbiology in Prague have gotten into the act […]
Self Renewal: Yoga, Meditation and DNA MethyltransferasesApril 8, 2010Despite all the technology “progress” over the years that was supposed to save us heaps of time, we seem to be busier than ever. Real-time internet and PDAs make communication a 24-7 gig, so it’s no wonder that there’s a big movement in self-renewal. We would take some time here to give you small ways […]
Single Tube DNAm Analysis. Better Than Sliced Bread?April 6, 2010Tired of performing DNA extractions, bisulfite conversions, and PCR in three separate reactions? Is the sweet smell of phenol not helping you out with the opposite sex? Then, you’ll love DNA methylation analysis using methylation on beads (MOB)! Although it may sound like the stuff of infomercials, a team at Johns Hopkins University really found […]
Breaking Down miRNA MicroarraysApril 6, 2010As analysis of miRNAs becomes increasingly popular, the resulting flood of microarray products out there for miRNA profiling is enough to make your head spin. So how do you decide which ones to use? If you’ve been stressing over that question, you’ll be happy to know that some good folks at Cambridge Research Institute and […]
Transcription Enhancers Have an Oprah MomentMarch 30, 2010Not to get all “Oprah”, but sometimes, you need to let go of unstable elements in order to enhance your life. Researchers now report that this drama unfolds at the DNA level too. Here’s what they found: an unstable nucleosome sitting smack dab in the center of an enhancer can get kicked off to make […]
miRNA SNPs Here or There Can Make a Big DifferenceMarch 30, 2010One wrong snip from your barber might leave you with a bad hair day, but a genomic SNP in the wrong place, like a miRNA target site, can leave you in a much worse situation; with a predisposition to cancer. SNPs have been studied extensively in several diseases, but only recently have scientists started looking […]
Non-Coding RNAs in EpigeneticsMarch 30, 2010We interviewed John Mattick a few years back as we were getting ready to launch EpiGenie, but couldn’t manage to get the transcripts all edited and ready for show time. So, when we ran accross this interview in what was Invitrogen’s Quest magazine we were excited, then bummed because we didn’t run it first, then […]
Viral miRNA Social Networking via ExosomesMarch 29, 2010Just a few years ago miRNAs were viewed as pretty solitary transcripts, exhibiting their regulatory muti-tasking skills primarily within their micro-environments. Recent evidence however has shown that miRNAs can spring from their cellular confines when secreted in exosomes, our cells’ version of public transit. A few groups have hypothesized that these exosome-associated miRNAs might play […]