You Aren’t Going Crazy – Losing It at the Epigenetic Level Really Drives Aging!February 6, 2023Information loss can drive us crazy – from ruining a potential culinary masterpiece to turning a Lego-building afternoon into a nightmare, but can “losing it” at the epigenetic level drive aging and turn a young whippersnapper into an old fogey? We know all too well about age-related epigenetic changes, and now a team led by […]
scChIX-seq Brings Double the Fun to Single-Cell Histone Modification ProfilingJanuary 23, 2023How do you double your fun? An extra scoop of ice cream, coffee and a cake, or the epigenetic delights of single-cell profiling of not one but two histone modifications? In the latter case, the scChIX-seq (single-cell chromatin immunocleavage and unmixing sequencing) integrated framework may represent a wise choice for those looking to indulge while […]
Can New RNA Modification Profiling Tools Help in Your Epitranscriptomic Bid for Glory?November 21, 2022Two new sequencing methods may just make your day if you happen to be bidding for glorious insights into the epitranscriptome. Inspired by the bisulfite conversion used to assay DNA methylation, BID-seq and GLORI now enable single-nucleotide transcriptome-wide profiling of two crucial RNA modifications – N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and pseudouridine (the C5-glycoside isomer of uridine). RNA […]
RT&Tag Maps the Fleeting World of Chromatin-associated RNAsOctober 25, 2022Between the vast lands of DNA and proteins lies the ephemeral and dynamic world of chromatin-associated RNAs, a less-explored but utterly critical domain of the eukaryotic nucleus. Thankfully, RNA-focused researchers can now turn to a tagmentation-based profiling technique (“RT&Tag”) to map the landscape of regulatory chromatin-associated RNAs to aid this quest. In their fascinating study, […]
Single-Cell Spatial and Multimodal Upgrades to ATAC-Seq Speed Up Your Chromatin InsightsOctober 9, 2022Need to get swiftly up to date with recent advances to the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-Seq) technique? Well, slow down and read on for the latest single-cell spatial and multimodal updates to your chromatin toolbox! Our first study gives us a quick lowdown on Spatial-ATAC-seq, a technique to capture spatial chromatin […]
Multiomic Face-off Finds the Factors that Lead to Look-alikes!September 6, 2022Have you ever heard of someone bumping into their doppelgänger and wondered how the forces of biology conspired to make two unrelated people look alike? In a recent study, a few familiar faces took advantage of a photographer’s keen eye and a multiomic “face-off” to find those factors that lead two strangers to look alike! […]
eBook: Single-cell Methods in Epigenetics and GenomicsAugust 24, 2022Single-Cell methodologies can be the most comprehensive way to identify cell subpopulations with different transcriptome and epigenetic profiles within complex samples, eliminating the need for isolation strategies like FACS or magnetic sorting that could alter the biology due to sample manipulation. These methods are proving to be invaluable for Identifying novel cells that modulate response […]
Novel Multiomic Epigenetic Clock May Decipher How Epigenetic Aging Impacts Cell FunctionAugust 23, 2022Timely advances have demonstrated that significant changes to DNA methylation levels accompany the creaking knees, failing eyes, and changing tastes in music (!) associated with the human aging process. A well-timed study now builds upon these past studies to describe a multiomic-based approach with the potential to forge links between epigenetic aging and the gene […]
No Cells? No Problem! How Cell-Free DNA Methylation Profiles May Guide Cancer ManagementAugust 20, 2022When set the monumental task of studying how the epigenetic mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis, isolating a cell sample usually represents your first analytical port of call; however, research now suggests that liquid biopsies of a patient’s blood may provide a wealth of information from cell-free DNA. Furthermore, widening this approach to DNA methylation analysis may also […]
Multimodal Nanopore Profiling of Circulating Tumor DNAAugust 1, 2022The Oxford Nanopore (ONT) sequencing platform may have more modalities than a Swiss army knife. In a multimodal masterpiece of a new study, researchers now demonstrate how DNA methylation, copy number alterations, nucleosome footprinting, and fragmentation profiles derived from liquid biopsies of cancer patients can deconvolute cellular composition and identify cancer-specific methylation changes from circulating […]