Conserved DNA Methylation Changes from Early Childhood ExperiencesOctober 9, 2012Our brains might not recall our early years, but increasing evidence supports that our methylomes just might. A few studies have shown that cuddles from mama rats—or a lack thereof—are known to affect their offspring’s long-term health and behavior by changing the brain’s DNA methylation patterns over a large scale. Now, a Canadian research effort […]
Bisulfite Sequencing and RRBS Get a MakeoverOctober 4, 2012As we head into fall in the northern hemi, the air gets a bit lighter, the leaves change, and improved ways to approach Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS), histone modification characterization, and bisulfite sequencing mapping emerge. Check out these three new techniques featured by our friends over at BMC in the latest issue of Genome Biology that may just […]
New Apps: Interactive Epigenomic Data Browser and DNAm Data ToolkitsOctober 4, 2012Apple may have bombed their latest Maps integration, but the Epigenome mapping consortia out there are making it look easy by pumping out datasets by the server full. So it only makes sense that there needs to be robust software to help researchers make sense of it all. Two new papers in Genome Biology offer […]
NIH Protein Capture Reagents ProgramSeptember 26, 2012The NIH is seeking broad community input (that means you) to prioritize a list for renewable affinity reagents for human transcription factors. This outreach effort is part of the Protein Capture Reagents Program (http://commonfund.nih.gov/proteincapture/). This program was initiated by the NIH Common Fund in response to concerns raised by scientific community regarding the lack of access to […]
Webinar: Exploring Genome-Wide Organization of Chromatin Structure by ChIPSeptember 26, 2012Our friends at Abcam are hosting a lovely webinar for those of you seeking to ChIP away at chromatin enlightenment. Topics to be discussed include: Introduction to chromatin, ChIP (Chromatin IP) and usages of the method Overview of genomic approaches to map in-vivo chromatin structure (ChIP-seq and ChIP-chip) Detailed description of genome-wide mapping of chromatin by ChIP-seq and ChIP-chip […]
Free White Paper: Histone Acetylation and Methylation – Epigenetic Modulators of Gene ExpressionSeptember 26, 2012Histone acetylation and methylation are important cellular processes, but it can be hard keeping track of the structural ups and downs from HATs and HDACs. This free white-paper provides an informative, concise review of the key players in histone acetylation and methylation and their impact on specific residues. Download here >>>
RNA Methylation Adds Some Stability to a Chaotic CellSeptember 26, 2012We could all use a little more stability in our lives, and now researchers in Germany say that tRNAs get more stable when they are methylated on specific cytosines. This stability helps ensure that cells keep making proteins for proper development and differentiation. The role of cytosine-C5 methylation on tRNAs has been more mysterious than […]
NOMe-seq Goes Genome WideSeptember 19, 2012NOME-seq (Nucleosome Occupancy and Methylome Sequencing) made a big splash when it was introduced just over a year ago because of its novel ability to profile nucleosome positions and DNA methylation at the same time, on a single DNA strand. Now researchers from the University of Southern California Epigenome Center have powered-up the technique by […]
DNA Methylation Runs the Genomic DefenseSeptember 12, 2012Novel research findings over the last last five years have introduced more exceptions than rules in the field of DNA methylation in gene silencing. Whether DNA methylation stars as the cause or effect in the thickening regulatory plot continues to be discussed in labs around the world. A British team of researchers led by Dr. […]
Predicting Gene Expression with Chromatin FeaturesSeptember 11, 2012As any weather forecaster can tell you, making accurate predictions is tough. But researchers now report that they’ve confirmed the power of chromatin features to predict gene expression. They’ve also come up with some new insights, too. Sure, some histone mods are associated with transcriptional repression, whereas others typically mark active spots. But many studies […]