Archive for December, 2006
« Previous EntriesWas 2006 a Good Year for Epigenetics? (Part II)
Sunday, December 31st, 2006In an earlier post, I began taking a look back at the year 2006 in epigenetics. With the last day of 2006 upon us, it seemed like a good time to complete the review of the year’s most memorable events (covered by Epigenetics News).
Methylation Markers Found for Multiple Cancers
Friday, December 29th, 2006A research group at University of Texas Southwestern have discovered multiple genes that are consistently methylated in lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancers. The research from Shames et. al was published this week in PLoS Medicine: A Genome-Wide Screen for Promoter Methylation in Lung Cancer Identifies Novel Methylation Markers for Multiple Malignancies.The researchers used microarray [...]
A Point of Clarification
Thursday, December 28th, 2006I have received many e-mails from readers, authors, investors, consultants, and others related to topics that I’ve discussed here at Epigenetics News. Many of these e-mailers have made some false assumptions. In light of this, I would like to make a few points very clear to our readers:
While I try to summarize news and research [...]
Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, December 27th, 2006I would like to wish our readers a safe and happy holidays. As for me, this is winter break time at Washington State University, which means that I have just completed my time off from school/work and will now spend the remainder of break in the lab. I am continuing work on a paper as [...]
Was 2006 a Good Year for Epigenetics?
Tuesday, December 19th, 2006Epigenetics, the study of heritable changes not involving changes in DNA sequence, saw a huge boost in public awareness in 2006. There were a number of high profile discoveries in the realm of epigenetics that were unveiled (or progressed) in 2006, which aid in increasing awareness of the field as a legitimate avenue to exciting [...]
Epigenomics Reviewing Options for Commercialization of Cancer Screening Tests
Monday, December 18th, 2006Following the recent announcement of the end of the the Roche collaboration, Epigenomics has issued a press release indicating its intent to “review all options for a fast commercialization of the cancer screening tests.”
Epigenomics AG (Frankfurt, Prime Standard: ECX) today announced that Roche Diagnostics has notified the company about the termination of the joint collaboration [...]
Epigenomics Conference Set for March 19-20 in San Diego
Monday, December 18th, 2006Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI) has announced the preliminary agenda for its inaugural Epigenomics conference, which will be held March 19-20 at the Hilton San Diego Resort in San Diego, CA.
A Student’s Guide to Working in a Research Lab
Sunday, December 17th, 2006I’m now working in my third research lab as an undergraduate student. I wasn’t fired from either of the previous two positions. Rather, I switched positions as better opportunities became available.Many students find it difficult to find employment in a research lab. I didn’t. Here’s a few tips that may help students out there find [...]
Special Offers Worth Mentioning
Saturday, December 16th, 2006I noticed that SEED Magazine, which now hosts 52 great science blogs, will be featuring these blogs in a special issue of the magazine, The Year in Science 2006. You can get this special issue plus a year’s subscription (6 issues) for US$14.95. A cartoon picture of Seed’s bloggers will be featured in the special [...]
Roche Terminates Cancer Screening Collaboration with Epigenomics
Friday, December 15th, 2006Roche Diagnostics has announced that it has decided to end its 4-year collaboration with Epigenomics (ECX GY).
Epigenetics in X-Linked Mental Retardation
Thursday, December 14th, 2006New research, currently in press from the international Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, describes (speculative) evidence for an epigenetic link to human mental retardation.The search for the genetic defects in constitutional diseases has so far been restricted to direct methods for the identification of genetic mutations in the patients’ genome. Traditional methods such as [...]
I Never Knew Writing (Research) Could Be So…
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006Laborious. Frustrating. Infuriating. Foreign.
Tonight I came across some comments from Derek Lowe, a chemist who writes great commentary on the pharmaceutical industry and a number of other topics in science at In the Pipeline, on the importance of “brevity” in describing research.Some of the worst writing in the scientific journals, though, comes from people who [...]
BioServe Unveils DNA Methylation Analysis Service
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006Laurel, MD-based BioServe Biotechnologies has unveiled a new service to analyze the ratio of methylation within a specific region of genomic DNA. The service utilizes Sequenom’s MassARRAY System and EpiTYPER methodology.
DNA methylation markers are a new and important class of biomarkers that are significant because of their correlation to gene activity. High levels of cytosine [...]
Imprinting Finding May Aid in Colorectal Cancer Screening
Monday, December 11th, 2006Dr. Andrew Feinberg of the John Hopkins School of Medicine has announced at the 46th Annual Meeting of The American Society for Cell Biology that his lab has analyzed a common epigenetic alteration and found that mice with the loss of imprinting of IGF2 and a mutation in the Apc gene have a higher risk [...]
Harvard Epidemiologist Seeks Postdoc in Epigenetics
Monday, December 11th, 2006Dr. Karin Michels, an associate professor of Harvard Medical School and clinical epidemiologist of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is seeking a postdoctoral research associate for her lab in Boston, MA.
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