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Different Pluripotent Stem Cells Remain Functionally Similar

November 12, 2015

Coke vs. Pepsi, Domino’s vs. Pizza Hut, Bud vs. Miller. Could you tell the difference them in a taste test, given that they are made in a slightly different way with slightly different starting materials? And in the end, if each option does the job they were designed to do (filling bellies!), will any slight […]

New Cas Effectors Inject Fresh Talent Onto CRISPR Stage

November 12, 2015

Poor Cas9. If CRISPR were a new music trend, Cas9 would the band that was playing CRISPR long before it was cool, rode the CRISPR wave to stardom, alienated its fans with copyright battles, and is already under threat from the new kids. Less metaphorically, Cas9 is an enzyme that uses RNA spacers (crRNAs) transcribed […]

Linking RNA Modifications and Stem Cell Pluripotency

November 12, 2015

Recent studies reported here at Epigenie have identified N6-methyladenosine (m6A) as a highly dynamic RNA modification that influences all aspects of RNA biology. Furthermore, an interesting study in mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) has indicated a role for N6-methyladenosine in the switch between ESC pluripotency and differentiation. Cool stuff indeed, but whate regulates N6-methyladenosine deposition […]

More Insights into Sperm Epigenomics: Histone Methylation Takes It Solo Transgenerationally

November 12, 2015

While CpG methylation has received the seminal fame of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, it seems that other players in the epigenome are just as capable. Sperm miRNAs have taken the solo spotlight in highlighting the mechanisms and distinction between transgenerational inheritance and intergenerational effect, but now histone methylation steps up to the plate leading us to […]

Astrocyte microRNAs Welcome Metastatic Cancer Cells to the Brain

November 12, 2015

If asked what to bring on a fishing trip in winter, your answer probably wouldn’t be a bathing suit and sunblock. Likewise, when cancer cells metastasize, they need the right equipment to reside in unfamiliar organs; in other words, they must adapt their expression programs to accommodate their new microenvironment. How they do this is […]

Sperm miRNA Drives Intergenerational Stress Response

October 30, 2015

Stress is something that we’re all too familiar with, but its impact across generations has remained controversial. The distinction between intergenerational effect and transgenerational inheritance is particularly important to understand the differences between a direct effect on exposed gametes or indirect transmission to unexposed gametes. However, the molecular mechanisms behind both phenomena have received much […]

Towards Bioprinting Organs with Human Stem Cells

October 30, 2015

Printing has come a long way since the days of Johannes Gutenberg and his famous press. Nowadays, we are printing plaster casts for broken bones, replacement parts for space stations and now, a new study shows us that we are well on our way to be able to print human organs. This version of printing, […]

Small Molecule Targeting RNA Heralds Comeback for Antibiotic Discovery

October 23, 2015

Although many readers may have been excited about the release of the new Prince album last month, the biggest comeback story of this year was over at Nature. The antibiotic field has reported only covers or remixes since the 1980s, but now researchers from Merck pharmaceuticals have discovered a potential new antibiotic that works by […]

DNA Methylation Changes in Blood Predict Breast Cancer Metastasis

October 22, 2015

Mention the word ‘surveillance’, and the people around you are likely to feel uneasy. But methods to monitor and predict the development of cancer are essential to provide the correct treatment at the right time. Now researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona show that assessing changes to DNA methylation directly in blood […]

Stem Cell Scientists Use Cell Reprogramming Techniques to Study Aging

October 22, 2015

“Work harder, eat less, and, I’m begging you, get a haircut!” A face-to-face meeting between a younger and an older version of yourself would surely be filled with sage advice on how to live life and grow old gracefully. Many scientists wish to recreate such a meeting between young and old neurons to study aging and […]