Keep DNA Methylation Experiments in Check with These ControlsSeptember 12, 2014Specially designed DNA standards and controls may not be flashy, but they are essential for correct experimental design and successful data analysis and without that, you’re going to be struggling to nab that next big publication. But don’t worry, with the proper controls you’ll be able to pinpoint experimental issues with laser precision, not to […]
Hints for Optimizing Bisulfite Primer DesignSeptember 12, 2014The bisulfite conversion experts from Zymo Research have put together a killer guide on the ins and outs of amplifying bisulfite treated DNA. EpiGenie got an exclusive, advanced peek at some of the content that we are sharing with our readers. In this section, they provide some helpful advice on the art of bisulfite primer […]
Endogenous Retroviruses Shape the Road to Stem Cell ReprogrammingSeptember 6, 2014It’s been a while now since Yamanaka and his team discovered the recipe of everlasting youth, for cells at least. Yet, the road leading from differentiated cell to pluripotency passes through largely uncharted territory. Now, Yamanaka and colleagues show that the activation of human endogenous retroviruses is a key landmark on the induced pluripotency highway. […]
Total Histone Content Contributes to Embryonic Stem Cell PluripotencySeptember 5, 2014Histones, the powerful regulators of the nucleus that can make our genetic material expand and contract faster than interest rates on the economy, are deeply involved in stem cell differentiation dynamics. But what about the total amount of histones in a cell? Until recently researchers have viewed histone content as fairly fixed, but an Italian […]
450K Hacked: ox-BS Gives Away 5hmC’s secretsSeptember 5, 2014Differentiating between DNA’s celebrity cytosine bases can be harder than remembering all the ‘celebrities’ caught in hollywood’s latest photo leak. But have no fear, because oxidative bisulfite conversion (ox-BS) is here to save the day in a reduced representation way. Normally, bisulfite conversion doesn’t produce a difference in readout between 5mC and 5hmC, but ox-BS overcomes this by treating the DNA […]
EpiGenie Book Reviews: Epigenetics in PsychiatrySeptember 3, 2014Weighing in at just above 600 pages, Epigenetics in Psychiatry sets out to cover emerging research interests in the world of neuroepigenomics and it’s translation to the clinic. A collection of reviews, rather than a more standard textbook, it is written by researchers in the field with a focus on the background of their research […]
Chromatin Never Forgets to Stay in the LoopSeptember 3, 2014While DNA has long been thought of as the molecular sheriff of inheritance, the epigenome continues to unravel it’s mystery in a western film style, with chromatin as the lasso wielding cowboy that never lets past transgressions slide. It seems that the pericentric heterochromatin (PCH) gang has gone and looted chromatin of it’s transcriptional treasures by some organized crime. […]
Tumors Go Minimalist with DNA Methylation BlocksAugust 26, 2014It seems that cancer is joining the minimalist trend, and has recently been caught sporting a universal and distinct DNA methylation signature. A talented team from John Hopkins lead by epi-gurus Andrew Feinberg and Rafael Irizarry show that large hypomethylated blocks are a defining feature in a number of different human solid tumors. These hypomethylated blocks also […]
3D Epigenome Folding ModelsAugust 21, 2014Much like 3D pictures enhance the illusion of depth of picture perception, polymer physics can enhance the depth of organization of epigenomic landscape in topologically associated 3D loop domains. Eukaryotic chromatin is organized into topologically associated epigenomic domains. A team of French researchers led by Daniel Jost recently unveiled a new approach for modeling epigenomic […]
Alzheimer Disease Gets Brain Region Specific EWASAugust 17, 2014Epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) appear to be the natural evolution of GWAS that has given neuroscience a epigenomic renaissance. Jonathan Mill and team from the University of Exeter Medical School and King’s College London have shown that sometimes it’s best to cover all angles and in their latest report(s) offer up some new epigenetic targets for studying the neuroscience of Alzheimer […]