Genome Editing & iPSCs Reveal Matters of the HeartMay 15, 2014Matters of the heart are always complicated (Just ask Dr. Phil!), but this is especially true when appropriate cardiac models aren’t available to medical researchers. Fortunately, a reverse engineering team from Harvard has found a way to combine the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), to create a “heart-on-chip” technology that’s […]
Synthetic DNA Adds Storage Capacity to Genome EditingMay 9, 2014Just when you thought you’d mastered both your linguistic and scientific alphabets, it looks like it’s time to dust off the ol’ learning cap and re-learn your ATGCs because the two-base-pair genetic alphabet has just got some fancy new characters. A clever team from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (California) have now expanded the inheritable […]
DNA Methylation and Diet: A Lot to Chew OnMay 7, 2014Just in time for Mother’s Day, a new published report finds that a mother’s diet at the conception of her child causes life-long epigenetic differences in the metastable epialleles of the child with “permanent phenotypic consequences”. While it may seem that the “you are what you eat” card has been played to death to explain […]
Non-coding RNAs Reveal How Stress Can Be InheritedMay 7, 2014Stress hits every one of us, like when the Heartbleed virus makes you have to go back and reset all of your online passwords. Recent evidence has already linked the DNA methylation and histone alterations left behind by stressful events to transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, but now, scientists from the Brain Research Institute in Switzerland have observed […]
Get an Epigenetics Job at AbcamMay 5, 2014Abcam is searching for an Epigenetics Technical Author for their Research Area Content Team. We’ve worked at and with a number of companies in the epigenetics space and we can’t say enough good things about Abcam. Plus…Cambridge (UK) is an amazing town with a rich history, a bustling academic environment and most important, a ton […]
Going ChIP-less Yields More Insights on Histone Code CombosApril 29, 2014When it comes to studying chromatin structure and histone modifications, a new technique proves that sometime less really is more, ChIP-less that is. Antibodies for individual histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) have long been the star of chromatin technology, but PTMs often act in concert to form a dynamic histone code whose combinations can interfere with antibodies attempting to bind […]
Ancient History as Told by DNA MethylationApril 23, 2014To some people ancient history is anything prior to Facebook, for others, it might mean pre-iPod, but this new study uses DNA methylation to look WAY back in time and analyze the beginnings of human evolution (And yes, that’s before the internet was invented). Using epigenomics to look back into pre-historic times has taught us […]
DNA Cubes May Take Genome Editing Outside the BoxApril 22, 2014Through the use of some creative chemistry researchers have devised DNA cubes that can deliver molecular packages with precision that would make FedEx jealous. A geometrically genius team from McGill University crafted a piece of DNA origami that will only release it’s molecular payload when triggered by a specific mRNA. Here’s how they did it: Cubes were […]
Kit Competition Reveals Hacks to Help Bisulfite ConversionApril 16, 2014At first pass it may seem like all bisulfite conversion kits are essentially the same – and for the most part, that’s true. But according to a recently published evaluation, the conversion is all in the details, and if those are overlooked it can have a big impact on the results. Fortunately, researchers from the […]
SIF-seq Sifts Out Stem Cell Enhancer GoldApril 10, 2014Searching for functional enhancers is sort of like panning for gold; there is enormous potential for riches, but the task is akin to finding a needle in a stack of needles. A team from the Berkeley National Laboratory decided to apply their own gold rush-style, enhancer mining techniques to develop a new method for the discovery of functional enhancers aided […]