Archive for January, 2007
« Previous EntriesEpigenetic Control of Regulatory T Cells
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007New research published this week in PLoS Biology shows the importance of epigenetic modifications in regulatory T cells.
Regulatory T cells play a pivotal role in the maintenance of self-tolerance within the immune system by preventing autoimmunity or excessive activation of the T cells that respond to pathogens (naïve and effector T cells). They differentiate within [...]
How I Found the Greally Lab
Friday, January 26th, 2007The Greally lab was really easy to find. They linked to me. I have access to a nice stats package through my Web host that shows every referrer to Epigenetics News. So if any Web site links to any page of this site, I’ll eventually see it. Eventually, because there are now hundreds (if not [...]
First Look at Cold Spring’s Epigenetics
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007When Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press announced the release of the new epigenetics textbook, I knew that I had to get my hands on it. After receiving it earlier this month and getting a chance to read specific portions, I am going to offer some initial, “first look” comments on this highly specialized textbook.
For starters, [...]
Cause For Concern in Microarray-Based Studies
Monday, January 22nd, 2007New research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that many microarray-based cancer studies have critical flaws in their analyses or conclusions.
In the study, Simon and his NCI colleague Dr. Alain Dupuy looked at 90 studies published through the end of 2004 that compared microarray profiling with medical results. The most frequently [...]
Monday Morning Carnivals and Links
Monday, January 22nd, 2007There are a number of recent science blog carnivals and other reading material that I’d like to highlight:
Tangled Bank #71
Mendel’s Garden
Carnival of Education #102
Four Stone Hearth #7
This past weekend marked the 2007 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference, which was attended by nearly 200 researchers, bloggers, students, press, etc. Bora Zivkovic, one of the organizers of [...]
Shirley Tilghman Wins GSA Medal
Saturday, January 20th, 2007Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman has been awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal, which recognizes a scientist’s outstanding contributions to genetics over the past 15 years.
Tilghman was nominated for her pioneering work in epigenetics and imprinting, which has expanded the knowledge base about embryo development in mammals.
Tilghman published many papers characterizing the imprinted [...]
A Quick January Update
Friday, January 19th, 2007There have been a few changes to the site that I’ve made over the past couple months that I wanted to make everyone aware of. For starters, if you haven’t noticed lately, I have set up the RSS feed to be handled exclusively by FeedBurner. This allows me to keep an eye on how many [...]
Tumor-Free Breast Tissue Can Have Increased Methylation
Friday, January 19th, 2007New research from a team at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center shows that normal breast tissue as much as 4 cm away from a cancerous breast tissue can have increased methylation in the RASSF1A gene promoter.
During this study, the researchers measured the degrees of methylation in tissue removed from 47 patients who had [...]
The Just Science Challenge: We Accept
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007There is a movement afoot, known as the Just Science Challenge, that aims to have science bloggers post only about science for the week beginning Monday, February 2 and ending Sunday, February 8.
During that time each blogger should post about science only, with at least one post per day. Furthermore, issues which are favored by [...]
Nygaard Named New CEO of Epigenomics AG
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007Epigenomics AG (Frankfurt: ECX) has appointed its new CEO: Geert Walther Nygaard, formerly managing director and member of the management board of pharmaceutical and diagnostics company Abbott GmbH & Co. KG.Nygaard started his career in Denmark, working for Diagnostics companies Beckman Instruments and Dako A/S in national and international positions. He joined Abbott in 1999 [...]
The Science Blogging Anthology 2006
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007Bora Zivkovic of A Blog Around the Clock has announced the release of The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006. The inaugural anthology hopes to capture the best that the science blogosphere offered in 2006, and the results are pretty impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that Bora had only three [...]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2007
Monday, January 15th, 2007Today is a day of remembrance. Here is a video of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Enjoy.
Epigenetics in the Card Catalog
Saturday, January 13th, 2007Before I decided to pursue a degree at WSU, I had just moved to the Pullman area and was in desperate need of a job during one of the worst possible times for a college town: summer. Since the university is Pullman’s largest employer (by far), and has their own need for people to do [...]
Epigenetics Gordon Conference in August 2007
Thursday, January 11th, 2007The 2007 Epigenetics Gordon Conference, held every odd year at the Holderness School in Plymouth, NH, is set for August 5-10, 2007. This year’s conference will be chaired by Dr. Anne-Ferguson Smith of the University of Cambridge and Dr. Steven E. Jacobsen of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The list of confirmed [...]
Late Fall Issue of Journal of Epigenetics Available
Thursday, January 11th, 2007The October/November/December 2006 issue of the journal Epigenetics is now available and contains four research papers covering topics related to breast cancer, autism, and prostate cancer.
In Vivo Methylation Patterns of the Leptin Promoter in Human and Mouse (Open Access)
Epigenetic Regulation of Manganese Superoxide Dismutase Expression in Human Breast Cancer Cells
Reduced MeCP2 Expression is Frequent in [...]
