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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 […]

Turning the Tables on Bacteria with CRISPR-Cas Antimicrobials

October 11, 2014

Fighting pathogenic bacteria can be as frustrating as being an early adopter of electronic gadgets. You grab the latest smart phone, and the following day leaks of the next generation are hitting the net. The broad-spectrum nature of many antibiotics is partially to blame as they destroy our friendly bacteria and contribute to resistance. Lucky for […]

Are LncRNAs the Future of Non-Invasive Prostate Cancer Testing?

October 9, 2014

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of mortality in North-American men and as a result many are forced to the clinic for some rather invasive biopsies, but thanks to some cool epigenetics involving lncRNAs, those once dreaded trips to the doctor’s office may soon be replaced a much less invasive urine test. Ranjan Perera and crew […]

Maternal Care Causes Variation in Behavior and Gene Regulation in Females

October 1, 2014

Life experiences shape us in ways that are hard to imagine, whether it’s a catch-phrase from a favorite TV show slipping into our vocabulary ,or how much your mother licked you while you were child (We know that sounds weird for humans, but licking just happens to be a measure of maternal care in rodents). […]

MYC Sequestration Mitigates Cancer Risk in iPSC Therapies

September 30, 2014

Mention “sequestration” in the US and scientists cringe at the memories of past budget freezes. But recently, a talented team of researchers has put the term in a more positive light; by sequestering MYC proteins in iPSCs, they’ve helped mitigate cancer risks in regenerative medicine. Since their first development in 2006, induced pluripotent stem cells […]

Inheritance of Histone Mod Caught at Cell division

September 29, 2014

Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance is one of our favorite topics, it’s done a great job of showing old school Mendelian inheritance who’s boss by creating the molecular complexity of complex traits. With phenotypes and exposures aplenty, the one thing that has been missing is catching the inheritance of an acquired epigenetic mark in the act. And that’s just what a […]

Transcription Factor Networking Predicts Histone Mods

September 22, 2014

Computational networking is all the rage, not only can it help you keep track of your friends and colleagues but it can also reveal a surprising amount of information behind the regulation of gene expression. Now a computationally cutting edge team from the University of Edinburgh have found out how to use transcription factor binding patterns […]

Environmental enrichment stimulates neural 5hmC dynamics

September 17, 2014

Judging from the luxurious lifestyles of the rich and famous, it would seem there’s no denying the wonders of an enriched environment. Even at an epigenetic scale, enhancing your environment properly and with a bit of personal restraint leads to improvements in the brain aplenty, including learning and memory. A team from Emory University characterized the […]

The IsomiR Comsos: Population and Gender Dependancies

September 17, 2014

While microRNAs have been generally thought of as very homogenous little genomic modulators, some new studies are finding that there is actually an entire miRNA cosmos out there with slight variations that are relevant to gender and population differences in mammals. Over at Thomas Jefferson University, Isidore Rigoutsos and his colleagues have already seen some pretty […]