Epigenetic Sequencing Woes Overcome by Services Know-howMarch 1, 2015Sequencing 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, […]
Review: Crosslinking-Immunoprecipitation (CLIP) MethodsFebruary 8, 2015RNA-protein interactions are key to understanding human health and disease. Crosslinking-immunoprecipitation (CLIP) and related technologies are powerful tools for characterizing these interactions. Since their introduction in 2008 (Licatalosi et al., 2008), CLIP-based approaches have been applied to prominent RNA research fields such as HIV and cancer. Recently, Sebla Kutluay and colleagues used CLIP to characterize […]
Keeping Tabs on Off-Target Effects of Genome EditingFebruary 5, 2015While the fashion and music tastes of the late 1980’s was rather questionable, it was a time of historic technological and societal change. Between the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the rise of the global computer network that we now call internet, a small group of researchers succeeded for the first time in generating […]
Cellular Transdifferentiation: Meet the 21st Century AlchemistsFebruary 3, 2015For centuries, some of the world’s leading scholars worked endlessly with one objective, to turn ordinary metals into gold. Now, scientists of the 21st century are trying their hand at another type of alchemy, turning one cell type into another. This process, known as ‘transdifferentiation’ or ‘direct reprogramming’ can create a potentially limitless source of […]
Bacterial Kryptonite Uncovered in the Biological Dark Matter MinesJanuary 27, 2015Public health has a looming, if slow-simmering, crisis. Antibiotics, which revolutionized health care in the 20th century, are losing their punch. Evolution, it turns out, is pretty effective at producing things that don’t die. Accordingly, bacteria are evolving resistance to our antibiotic arsenal, and more people are suffering from previously-treatable infections. Meanwhile, the pipeline of […]
Active Demethylation: TET Enzymes, 5hmC, and CompanyJanuary 20, 20155hmC was originally discovered way back in the 50’s in bacteriophages and was first observed in mammals in the 70’s, but research into this was set back when these studies failed to replicate. And going back to the future, in 2009 two independent research groups, publishing on the same pages in science, found that this “unknown […]
Plotting the Path to Pluripotency Uncovers Key Role of DNA MethylationDecember 29, 2014If you’ve read our recent piece ‘Reprogramming Roadmap Reveals Fuzzy New Stem Cells‘ you’ll already know how “Project Grandiose” [1, 2], the brainchild of Andras Nagy, identified a new pluripotent state (the F-class stem cell). While the discovery of this new class is thrilling, the main purpose of this grand project was to uncover the […]
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.
A “Grandiose” Project Provides a Fuzzy New Future for iPSC ResearchDecember 17, 2014Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) research burst on to the scene in 2006 with a paper which has since spawned thousands of studies and has proved to be a quantum leap for regenerative medicine. This reached a crescendo this year when a Japanese patient became the first recipient of retinal cells generated from iPSCs made […]
Dynamic Pseudouridylation of ncRNA and mRNADecember 15, 2014Pseudouridine (Ψ) is not only the most abundant post-translational modification (PTM) of RNA in all organisms, but it is also amongst the first discovered, way back in the futuristic 50’s, where it was deemed the 5th nucleotide of RNA. Ψ doesn’t discriminate against cellular functions or evolutionary distinct species. And while studied intently in rRNA […]