Losing Heterochromatin to Determine Cell Fate
In the moments after fertilization, the tiny mass that is the embryo sets in motion developmental programs that will transform it into a human being. One of the earliest steps in human development is the formation of the germ layers. Humans and other animals in the Chordata phylum, have three …
April is Autism Awareness Month: Increased levels of 5-hmC may influence gene regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorder
The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has increased by roughly 30% since 2012. The CDC recently reported that one in 68 children in the United States is affected by ASD, compared to one in 88 just two years ago. This enhanced occurrence could be attributed to advancements in the …
RNA Methylation: The Next Big Thing in Stem Cell Differentiation and RNA Stability
While DNA methylation is probably the longest studied and best understood epigenetic modification, methylation of RNA is gaining increased appreciation, especially recently. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in RNA has been observed to be the most frequently occurring epigenetic modification in mRNAs in eukaryotic organisms, but the function of this modification is still …
Somatic Cells Turned Pluripotent by Acid Treatment – Major Breakthrough, Or Too Good To Be True?
The potential use of induced pluripotent stem cells in medicine has the power to completely revolutionize the way physicians treat human diseases. Imagine the possibility of treating diseased or damaged tissue by taking a patient’s own cells from an unaffected tissue, and turning them into healthy cells to replace the …
Dad’s Deficient Diet Harms His Offspring: Epigenetics To Blame?
Doctors have long known that a pregnant woman needs adequate levels of folate (also known as vitamin B9) to help prevent serious birth defects. New research in mice now suggests that a father’s level of folate prior to conception also plays a critical role in the baby’s health, through a …
DNA Hydroxymethylation and Neuron Development
It has been well known for many years that DNA methylation plays many roles in gene regulation and can direct different cell pathways such as apoptosis, differentiation, cancer, and aging. Although DNA methylation can be extremely stable – able to persist through multiple generations – it can also be quite …
Chicken Little Can Blame It On Her Epigenetics!
While most of us will be hopping on the scale and hoping for a relatively low weight this holiday season, poultry farmers will be weighing their birds hoping for just the opposite. Chickens are the most commonly eaten poultry in the world and those bred for consumption are categorized as …
The Same, Only Different: DNA Methylation Dynamics in the Human Genome
DNA methylation is one of the most common, and most studied, epigenetic modifications. DNA methylation plays a central role in the development and differentiation of mammalian cells, and when DNA methylation is misregulated, it can lead to many different types of human diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders. DNA methylation, …