Paradigm Shift for Intergenerational Epigenetic Effects at Retrotransposons: The Exception Rather than the Rule?October 30, 2018While friendly customer service and helpful views in article comments sections may once have been ubiquitous occurrences, they now, unfortunately, seem to be the exception rather than the rule. This trend extends to some of our favorite epigenetic topics, where a team led by Anne C. Ferguson-Smith (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom) now provides paradigm-breaking […]
H3K27ac Histone Acetylome-Wide Association Study Enhances our Knowledge of Alzheimer’s Disease BrainOctober 30, 2018When it comes to the complex disorders associated with aging, our knowledge could always use some enhancement. Thankfully, a new histone acetylome-wide association study (HAWAS) of H3K27ac establishes that this mark of active enhancers can also enhance our knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The role of histone acetylation in healthy aging and AD has begun […]
A Microbiome-Sensitive H3K4me3 Profile Predicts Intestinal Inflammation in Crohn’s DiseaseOctober 30, 2018While our microbiome serves up the metabolites required for our histone modifications, new findings establish that this agglomeration of microorganisms can also serve up a dish most foul; one that induces a severe type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) known as Crohn’s disease. Although studies have established a link between alterations to the microbiome and […]
New Enzymatic Bisulfite Alternative ACEs the CompetitionOctober 30, 2018Sodium bisulfite is the undisputed king of DNA methylation research; and this king has been played over and over for years now. But a lot of players in the field are looking for something better, and the only thing that can trump a king is an ace, in this case ACE-seq. The active enzymatic demethylation […]
Genome Organization Fashions an Immune-evading Parasite CoatOctober 24, 2018One might describe Trypanosoma brucei as a moderately fashionable parasite, as it changes its outer coat faster than models can strut their stuff down the exclusive catwalks in Paris or Milan! Other than making this troublesome unicellular protozoan look very sharp, its ever-changing coat helps it to keep out of reach of the host immune system […]
CRISPR-Cas9 Mediated Deletion of Imprinted Genes Enables Same-Sex Reproduction in MiceOctober 23, 2018Having the birds and bees talk can be a little awkward for some parents, but at least the rules were straight forward. Well one of those basic rules—that you need a sperm and an egg to make an embryo—just isn’t true anymore. A seminal discovery in mammalian genetics was that fertilization in mice required maternal […]
Colossal New Roadmap Study Provides Single-Chromosome View on Sequence-Dependent Allele-Specific MethylationOctober 7, 2018Colossal, gigantic, mammoth, immense; none of these adjectives appropriately describes the amount of research carried out or curated by the National Institute of Health Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium, whose final goal is to produce a public resource of human epigenomic data to drive forward basic biology and disease-oriented research. As part of this research, scientists […]
Not Just Monkey Business: circRNAs are Dynamic in the Aging Non-Human Primate BrainSeptember 28, 2018While we tend to grow out of monkey business and running in circles as we grow older, exciting new profiles of brain circular RNA (circRNA) dynamics during normal aging have emerged thanks to these two youthful tactics. This insightful research into non-human primates comes from the groups of Jiali Li (University of the Chinese Academy […]
Egg-ceptional Role of Retrotransposon Transcription in Depositing DNA MethylationSeptember 25, 2018What do the mammalian genome and an old storage unit have in common? They’re both full of so-called junk. But unlike your aunt’s box of glass figurines, the junk in the human genome has turned out to have a lot of value. Most the “junk” in the human genome arose from retrotransposons. Long terminal repeat […]
Recycling: Keeping the Planet Green and the Histone Modification Landscape Pristine!September 22, 2018Recycling represents one of the most important strategies to keep the planet clean and green for generations to come. Used paper, metal, and plastic and other assorted detritus generally encounter a second use, but can we recycle the histone proteins that help to package our DNA and maintain cell-type-specific transcriptional programs? A lean, clean, and […]