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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Born to Lose: Histone Mods Tag Stem Cells for DNA Methylation of miRNA Loci in Cancer

October 12, 2011

It’s usually not hard to spot when things seem like they’re destined for failure. Like you ne’er do well cousin, or an American car from the 80’s. Other times, closer examination is required to find the seeds of a problem. That’s what it took for scientists to uncover how some harmless embryonic stem cells (ESCs) […]

Baby Epigenomes Thank You For Not Smoking

October 10, 2011

It’s no secret that smoking is bad, now new evidence shows that smoking during pregnancy could be very dangerous for a fetus. In a recent report, Baylor College of Medicine researchers found that moms who light up are also altering their babies’ epigenomes and transcriptomes. In some previous work, the scientists had only looked at […]

EpiGenie Review: Epigenetic Cancer Therapies and Diagnostics

October 10, 2011

Nearly everyone has been affected by cancer in some way or another. That’s why we’re so stoked to see all of the amazing breakthroughs in cancer knowledge coming from epigenetic research these days. Will it lead to treatments or cures anytime soon? Who knows, but it sure seems like we’re on the right track. Just […]

X-linked miRNAs Give Fairer Sex Unfair Immune Advantage

September 28, 2011

We love it when Epigenetic research hits the mainstream media, if for no other reason than our family and friends will have some idea of what we’re talking about when they ask about our work. This new article from sceintists at Ghent University in Belgium definitely fits the bill. Their new research finds that X-linked […]

Comparing Methylomes Reveals Evolutionary Secrets

September 28, 2011

Your mother always told you never to compare yourself with others, but in the methylation game, comparisons can reveal lots of cool info. Researchers now report that by comparing the methylomes of eight species, they found out that the placement of the H3K36me3 mark in Drosophila actually predicts where DNA methylation happens in other invertebrates. […]

Oh, the Horror! Commercial RTs Create False-Positive ncRNA Detection

September 16, 2011

With Halloween coming soon, we usually expect some visits from goblins, ghosts, and other creepy creatures who aren’t really what they seem. Now, researchers warn that using commercial reverse transcriptase (RT) might give you another sort of ghastly scare—you might think you’re detecting antisense non-coding RNA (ncRNA) when it isn’t even there. With so much […]

Epigenetic Instability Passes DNA Methylation Variation on to Heirs

September 15, 2011

There are loads of things we’d hope to inherit from our parents, like intelligence, good looks or maybe even the family fortune, but we’re pretty sure altered DNA methylation wouldn’t make the list. No use worrying about that, though, since we can’t do much about it…and how often does that really happen anyway? A group […]

Podbat Let’s You Fly Through Epigenomic Analysis

September 14, 2011

How much would you pay to be able to analyze epigenomic data sets for multiple modifications, from various sources and different experiment types simultaneously? Before you answer, check out this new software tool, Podbat (Positioning database and analysis tool) that lets you do all of that and more…for free! When we first heard the name, […]

DNA Methylation Not So Identical in Schizophrenic Twins

September 14, 2011

Monozygotic (MZ), or identical, twins may seem like exact carbon copies of each other, but recent work has shown that epigenetic variation between them is common, even though they share an identical genome. Sometimes these small but significant epigenetic differences are suspected to lead to very different outcomes when it comes to psychiatric disorders like […]

Imprinted Brain Theory with Dr Christopher Badcock

September 13, 2011

Dr. Christopher Badcock explains key epigenetic concepts of the Imprinted Brain theory and how it might change the way we think about mental disorders. This short take was shot during a break at Keystone Symposia’s meeting on Environmental Epigenomics and Disease Susceptibility held in March 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina. Imprinted Brain Theory Well, […]