Chromatin Altering Enhancers Help Genes Escape lncRNA SilencingNovember 23, 2011This holiday season, you may not be able to escape the big family dinner table, and the aunts and uncles that drink too much and bring up old arguments. But researchers at Temple University report that some genes can escape from the stranglehold of silencing that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) impose. And they do it […]
Human Mitochondria Have Long Noncoding RNAs TooNovember 20, 2011Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, but even though they supply critical energy to keep everything else running, genome researchers often ignore them. Hey, mitochondria have genomes, too! What do they have to do for attention, stage an “Occupy Cell” demonstration? Now that researchers in Australia have discovered long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human […]
Neuronal Histone Modifications in AutismNovember 15, 2011Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are mostly seen as a range of mental conditions, so researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School focused in on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons of autistic individuals, and mapped their H3K4me3 epigenomes in order to better understand the complex condition. The project compared autistic PFC neuron profiles to a […]
Socio-Economic Status Leaves A Methyl Mark on DNANovember 9, 2011Candidates for public office never seem to learn that you can’t escape your past. It’s almost like they’ve never even heard of Google or YouTube or something! Speaking of not letting go of the past, we’ve seen a few papers recently suggesting that some epigenetic changes in early life can stick around for decades. Now, […]
Epigenetic Marker Maternal Blood Prenatal Trisomy 21November 8, 2011Screening for trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, is a terrifying experience for soon-to-be parents that’s made even worse by the anxiety of the invasive procedures used in today’s testing methods. Soon, though, new diagnostics based on epigenetic markers should be able to indicate prenatal trisomy 21 from just a bit of mom’s blood. A new […]
EpiGenie Review: Chromatin’s Role in CancerNovember 7, 2011There’s lots of attention, not to mention several therapeutics, focused on chromatin’s part in cancer. Take a look at some of the research featured in EpiGenie that makes chromatin such a hot topic with cancer researchers. The Role of Chromatin in Cancer Epigenetic Changes in a Hard-to-Treat Childhood Cancer A very difficult-to-treat childhood leukemia may […]
The Return of the Coding RNAsNovember 7, 2011When George Lucas penned the scripts to the Star Wars series, is it possible that he foresaw the parallels his plots would have with epigenetics? Probably not, but some new research has us thinking they share a lot in common. The non-coding RNA “dark side” of the genome has generated a lot of buzz over the last […]
EpiGenie Review: Environmental Links to Epigenetics and CancerOctober 27, 2011If our daily environment can lead to cancer, and it can also alter our epigenetics, then it only makes sense that there is a connection between all three things. Here are the articles EpiGenie has written about showing the evidence linking environmental factors, and epigenetic mechanisms together with cancer. Environmental – Epigenetic Link to Cancer […]
Epigenetic Fountain of Youth Found in Worms?October 26, 2011We recently came across a hot new article that even the mainstream media has been all over. Stanford University researchers found that longevity can be passed down through generations without using DNA sequence to do it. The study found that C. elegans worms with certain histone modifications leading to increased longevity were able to pass that long […]
RNA Demethylation in ObesityOctober 19, 2011In news more surprising than the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement, researchers have unearthed a novel mechanism in which RNA demethylation is mediated by, of all things, the obesity related protein FTO. FTO is a well-established target of obesity and diabetes researchers, but its function has so far been elusive. At least it […]