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Ever get that feeling that you forgot something? Well maybe you did, but it doesn't have to be recent epigenetics research if you scope out our Headlines each week.

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Exploiting Nucleotide Recycling to Kill Cancer

July 28, 2015

Have you ever had a doubt about what exactly you can recycle? The cell is faced with the same problem when it encounters epigenetic nucleosides. It does not really know if they can be recycled as they are or discarded. New research by the team of Skirmantas Kriaucionis shows that although such nucleotides are normally […]

Expanding the Genetic Code with Synthetic Bases

July 27, 2015

Life on Earth only uses 4 DNA bases (ACGT), but in principle, there’s no good reason why we couldn’t use more. Heeding the call of “this might be possible but nature hasn’t done it yet I wonder why not?”, synthetic biologists have been tinkering with synthetic bases to see if an expanded DNA alphabet […]

The Power of Cooperation In Biosynthetic Coculture Systems

July 27, 2015

Traditionally, most bioproduction culture systems use just one strain of yeast or bacteria. Sometimes, though, you just need a little help from your friends. That’s the idea behind the emerging field of synthetic ecology, which just achieved a major proof-of-principle success thanks to a team of MIT scientists. Cocultures have been used in specific cases […]

Human Nuclear Transfer and iPSCs: New Strategies for the Treatment of Mitochondrial Disease

July 27, 2015

We recently brought you news of an exciting study led by Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte in which his group successfully eliminated mutant mitochondrial (mt)DNA in oocytes to inhibit germline transmission of currently incurable mitochondrial diseases. Well he’s back, and this time he brought a friend. Shoukhrat Mitalipov has teamed up with Izpisua Belmonte in a […]

Stem Cell Derived Brain Orginoids Reveal a Root of Autism

July 27, 2015

Two cutting edge stem cell techniques have joined forces this week to produce a breakthrough in our understanding of the causes of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Years of study have gone into assessing if specific mutations in autism-associated genes contribute to the abnormal brain development observed in ASD with little or no luck. Seeing this […]

Webinar: Key Steps for Validating Antibodies and Optimizing the ChIP Workflow

July 27, 2015

Abstract: Research in the field of epigenetics has grown at a rapid pace since the discovery of the first histone acetyltransferase enzymes 18 years ago. Since then, significant advances have been made in our understanding of the basic mechanisms of epigenetics (histone acetylation, histone methylation, chromatin remodeling and DNA methylation) and the impact of epigenetic […]

Salivating Insights into the DNA Methylation Connection in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

July 20, 2015

Things often show up where you least expect. Whether it’s finding your keys in the freezer, your phone in the couch, English kings underneath a car park, or the secrets of brain development in spit. Sometimes all you have to do is look. Previously, the lab of Shiva Singh from the University of Western Ontario […]

Race, Gender and Non-Coding RNA: tRNAs Don’t Play it Politically Correct

July 17, 2015

Human genetics just got a whole lot more complicated with a report published last week by Isidore Rigoutsos’ team in Oncotarget. As if differences in expression profiles between cells, tissues and differentiation stages weren’t already enough, it seems that race and gender also affect genomic output. Specifically, the team focused on transfer RNAs (tRNAs). tRNAs […]

Resistance is Futile: Epigenetic Therapy Makes Cancer Cells Defenseless

July 9, 2015

A team of American scientists have shown that an epigenetic therapy might hold promise for combatting drug resistance in cancer. Cancer cells are masters of drug evasion and adept at using alternative pathways to give them an edge during treatment, complicating many therapeutic approaches. Overcoming drug resistance in cancer cells, would save millions of lives […]

Optogenetics Sets the Pace

July 8, 2015

When it comes to the fast pace of biotechnology, missing a beat is never good. Building on that principle, a talented team from Israel used optogenetics to resynchronize hearts with just that problem. Optogenetic systems are showing tremendous clinical potential, whether it be bringing eyesight to the blind or restoring excitable physiology, they offer a […]