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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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Histone Modification Reading Domains Crack Complex Combos

October 30, 2014

Having alternatives is always great, particularly when it comes to studying histone modifications. By using some recombinant proteins of histone reading domains, researchers from the lab of Albert Jeltsch at Stuttgart University (Germany) recently demonstrated that these domains might just one-up antibodies when it comes to deciphering the combos of the histone code. Lead author Goran Kungulovski shares that “Histone […]

Developmental Origin of Schizophrenia-Associated DNA Methylation

October 30, 2014

Schizophrenia is one complex disease, with a number of subtypes and an origin unknown. However, despite it’s complexity, recent evidence points toward an interaction between genes and environment that are mediated by the epigenome. Further adding to the complexity is the fact that most patients are treated with powerful antipsychotics that also remodel the epigenome in […]

Pol II Gives Cells Pause During Somatic Cell Reprogramming

October 27, 2014

Few inventions have led the convenience revolution more so than the remote control. The Pause, Play, and Fast-forward buttons give us complete command of our entertainment while we relax after a hard day at work. But little did we know that researchers from the group of Miguel A. Esteban (Chinese Academy of Sciences) haven’t been […]

m6A RNA Methylation Modifications Helps Cells to Forget Stem Cell Past

October 25, 2014

When it comes to post-translational modifications, it’s fair to say that DNA and proteins have taken most of the limelight in epigenetics. RNA modifications have been largely relegated to the role of supporting actor. Not content with nucleosomes taking all the credit, a team of Stanford and Harvard researchers now demonstrate the importance of RNA […]

Pluripotency Genes are Loopy about their Neighborhood

October 25, 2014

Most of us understand the importance of a good neighborhood; we look for somewhere to reflect our identity and to bring us together with similar minded people. Interestingly, recent work from the labs of Keji Zhao and Richard A. Young suggests that certain genes in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) act in a similar manner. The inquisitive crew of […]

Sweet Success: Is a Viable Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetes in the Works?

October 18, 2014

Could we be near a bona fide treatment for a disease which affects over 300 million people? A remedy for the Case of the Mondays perhaps? No, it’s better than that; researchers from Harvard University believe that they might have uncovered a new strategy to replace lost insulin secreting cells of the pancreas (b cells) […]

Natural Disasters Impact DNA Methylation

October 16, 2014

As Polar Vortex II approaches, you’ll be interested in a recent study highlighting the impact of environment stressors on the epigenome. Prenatal maternal stress exposure is known to adversely affect offspring in a number of ways, depending on the nature of the exposure, but is typically studied in common exposures like diet, alcohol, and lead. But this has left the […]

Epigram: Predicting the Human Epigenome from DNA Motifs

October 16, 2014

There’s no denying the power of technology in our lives, whether it be your latest and greatest iPhone bending in your pocket or it be getting the technology to do something more useful, like predict the entire epigenome and how it functions in the regulation of gene expression. We’ve always loved a good tool and/or […]

Enhancers Share their Genome Editing Turn Ons (and Offs)

October 13, 2014

Tired of not knowing what really turns an enhancer on? You’re not alone, but luckily an inquisitive team of researchers out of Cambridge spent some serious time targeting enhancers by throwing some genome editing wizardry at them. The team, led by Pentao Liu, systematically compared how the TALE effectors and CRISPR targeting tools fare in […]

More Cleavage: CRISPR Cas9 Can Target RNA Too

October 11, 2014

Targeted genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 has been on the forefront of genome editing research lately. The Cas9 system is effective, efficient, and reliably specific in its approach to cleavage of nucleotides of interest. The catalytic activity of Cas9 depends on its ability to recognize short DNA sequences called the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM). Although it’s […]