epigenetics

Epigenetics and ncRNA Headlines

Get all the latest highlights from the literature and special features covering trending epigenetics, ncRNA, and gene regulation research.

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5hmC: a Helping Hand in Drug Addiction

March 23, 2015

While there’s no doubting that one month of continuous cocaine exposure is going to have an effect on the brain, it seems that some of the molecular culprits behind the response and long-term effects are 5hmC and the TET protein family. An international research team studying addiction via cocaine show that repeat exposure downregulates the TET machinery in the brain’s reward centre, the nucleus […]

Novel Primate- and Tissue Specific miRNAs with Dr Isidore Rigoutsos

March 17, 2015

In 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 […]

Our Favorite Findings from the Epigenomic Roadmap

March 10, 2015

For those of you with a keen eye, you’ll have already noticed the mass of Epigenomic Roadmap Studies published in Nature in February. In order to help you navigate this mountain of results we’ve highlighted some of our favorite findings from this collection of papers. Here’s our Top Five Findings: Enhancer-like Elements Take Center Stage in […]

Zymo Research 5-mC and Quest™ 5-hmC ELISAs Take DNA Methylation Screens Global

March 10, 2015

The concept of ‘Acting Locally’ has struck a chord with many folks these days on topics ranging from groceries to government, which makes it easy to forget the last part of that meme: which is to also ‘Think Globally’. The R&D team from Zymo Research has kept that bigger picture in mind, and developed their […]

Gene Expression Comes Full CircRNA

March 9, 2015

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a diverse RNA species that regulate gene expression in some funky ways, like functioning as super absorbent miRNA sponges in mammalian cells. However, they also seem to be particularly relevant to the brain. Recent research adds a new function to this ‘outside of the box’ method of regulating gene expression by observing circRNAs […]

Webinar: An Engineered Synergistic CRISPR/Cas9 Activator Complex for Genome-wide Transcriptional Control

March 4, 2015

Presenter: 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 […]

Epigenetic Sequencing Woes Overcome by Services Know-how

March 1, 2015

Sequencing technologies have created a dizzying number of opportunities for epigenetic researchers to explore questions that couldn’t be tackled before. Despite the immense power that sequencing delivers, though, the whole process still isn’t quite as simple as pushing a big red button, and watching the groundbreaking discoveries roll in. Even as sequencing becomes faster, easier, […]

Express Yourself with Light-activatable CRISPR-Cas9

February 26, 2015

Guess what? It seems that blue light has a lot more to offer than just helping with your winter time blues. It could also be just what your transcriptional activation system needs. Synthetic biology has a lot to offer omics beyond genome editing and recent work from multiple groups is putting Cas9 in a different spotlight. CRISPR/Cas9 […]

m⁶Ajor New Function for MicroRNAs in RNA Methylation

February 20, 2015

It’s no secret that microRNAs are pretty busy molecules. A single microRNA can regulate the expression of several, maybe even hundreds, of transcripts. If that wasn’t enough, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing now add another function to this packed list of duties: the control of m6A RNA methylation, which is emerging as an […]

Getting started with Chromatin Conformation Capture (3C)

February 15, 2015

The concept of chromatin contact mapping, or determining the three-dimensional structure conformation and interactions of chromatin domains, is now a reality because of Chromatin Conformation Capture (3C) and subsequent methods born out of that approach. Several new 3C-based techniques have emerged, each with particular strengths and applications, but the sheer variety creates a challenge when […]