Top Epigenetics Technology Features on EpiGenieJanuary 14, 2011Want to catch up on some of the latest methods, new technologies, and expert technical tricks? You’re in the right place. Here’s a list of our favorite emerging Technology and Methods articles from the last year or so to really jump-start your 2011. Check ‘em out! DNA Methylation Analysis Methylome Analysis Snapshot February 11, 2010. […]
ncRNA: 2010 2nd Half Editor’s FavoritesJanuary 6, 20112010 is over, so we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the exciting non-coding RNA work that came out over the last half of the year on topics like iPS cells, miRNA sponges, cancer and biomarkers. Enjoy! miRNAs in iPS cells An important tool for stem cell research, induced pluripotent stem cells […]
You Are What Your Father Ate, TooDecember 30, 2010Several recent studies have shown that Mom’s diet at conception or during pregnancy can affect the epigenetics of her offspring. Now it’s Dad’s turn to share some of the responsibility as well. A new Cell paper by Oliver Rando at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and colleagues found that male mice fed a low-protein […]
miR-200a Takes Down Cancerous Stem-like TransitionDecember 15, 2010There’s been a deafening buzz lately surrounding a new focus of epigeneticists known as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT, the gateway between normal epithelial cells and those that gain mesenchymal properties, is thought to be the point where cancer metastasis kicks off. And now a University of Hong Kong team, led by Hongping Xia reports […]
COLDAIR Kicks Off Histone Methylation Prep for WinterDecember 2, 2010As winter winds turn our noses into Rudolph lookalikes, flowering plants get busy at the epigenetic level. At the onset of winter, plants in temperate regions, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, undergo a process called vernalization where they prep to quickly flower once spring rolls back around. As Jae Bok Heo and Sibum Sung at the […]
Leukemia ALL Because of microRNA-125bNovember 30, 2010In a courtroom drama, sometimes the facts are so cut and dried that the defendant’s fate is all but sealed. New research from Marina Bousquet, a Lodish lab member at the Whitehead Institute, makes a strong case that miR-125b is essentially a smoking gun that causes leukemia. miR-125b is overexpressed in several different types of […]
miR-23a,27a,24-2 Cluster is Bad to the BoneNovember 19, 2010We’re not calling the miRNA 23a,27a,24-2 cluster a bunch of biological bad-guys, but if you’re a progenitor cell hoping to one day become an osteoblast, then they aren’t exactly your best friends. A new study reveals that the miRNA 23a,27a,24-2 cluster is at the center of a regulatory network that controls osteoblast differentiation. The new […]
Stem Cells Heartbroken Without miR-499November 8, 2010How can you mend a broken heart? Well if researchers at Stanford University are right, then one day all you’ll need are some stem cells and miR-499 to cure a bad case of heartache (well, at least the kind that follows a heart attack. The bad breakup kind will still be up to relationship experts […]
Prions Take Epigenetics to the ExtremeOctober 28, 2010Yeah, we know that somewhere between the X-games and base-jumping light beer ads, the term “Extreme” got a little played out. But, in their Perspective piece in Science, Randal Halfmann and Susan Lindquist make the case that certain proteins with unique folding properties, called prions, deserve the “extreme” label. Prions are proteins that are stably […]
Pardon the Epigenetic DisruptionOctober 28, 2010One of the great things about stem cells is how they seem to do just about anything. These days, stem cells have more Apps than an iPad, and in the new issue of Science we find one more: using stem cells to screen for “epigenetic disruptors”. The proposed idea is to use the built-in developmental […]
