Archive for April, 2007
How Often is the Word ‘Epigenetics’ Used? More Than Ever.
Thursday, April 26th, 2007There has been some discussion as of late concerning the increasing use of the words “epigenetic” and “epigenetics.” For starters, amnestic at Gene Expression wrote an excellent two-part series on epigenetics and memory (part 1, part 2) that included a review of definitions of epigenetics and some discussion concerning use of the word.Earlier this month, [...]
Grant Writing: Does It Get Any Better?
Monday, April 23rd, 2007I’ve been taking a graduate course this semester, “Molecular and Cellular Reproduction,” that aims to provide a comprehensive overview of all of the most relevant areas of reproductive biology from a physological, molecular, and cellular perspective. It’s been informative and fascinating, and as an undergraduate taking a completely unrequired course, it’s been challenging at times [...]
Mammal-Specific Protein Associates with Male Chromatin, Required for Male Meiosis
Friday, April 20th, 2007A new paper available today in PLoS Genetics suggests that a mammal-specific protein (DMRT7) related to the invertebrate sexual regulators Doublesex and MAB-3 controls the transition from meiotic sex chromosome inactivation to postmeiotic sex chromatin in males (1).
Genes related to the sexual regulator Doublesex of Drosophila have been found to control sexual development in a [...]
Epigenetics Researcher C. David Allis Grabs Gairdner Award
Thursday, April 19th, 2007C. David Allis of The Rockefeller University is one of five scientists to receive a 2007 Gairdner International Award. Allis is recognized for his work on how histones affect genome stability and gene transcription. Each award winner receives US$30,000 and a statue at an award dinner to be held on October 25 in Toronto, Canada.
The [...]
Epigenomics & Sequencing Meeting 2007: July 9-10 in Boston, MA
Thursday, April 19th, 2007GeneExpression Systems, Inc. will be hosting the 1st International Epigenomics & Sequencing Meeting on July 9-10, 2007 at The Conference Center at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. I spoke with GeneExpression Systems Founder and CEO Dr. Krishnarao Appasani, who explained that the meeting is aimed at bringing together a diverse field of epigenomics researchers [...]
AACR 2007: SuperGen Showcases Selective Degradation of DNMT1
Thursday, April 19th, 2007At the 2007 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), pharmaceutical company SuperGen (NASDAQ:SUPG) presented data on a class of quinilone-based compounds that are not incorporated into DNA, selectively induce the degradation of DNA Methyltransferase I (DNMT1) in human cancer cells and re-express silenced tumor supressor genes.
Researchers have discovered a novel class [...]
Submissions for Mendel’s Garden in May
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007The genetic blog carnival Mendel’s Garden will be hosted here at Epigenetics News on Monday, May 7. Submissions of anything related to genetics, epigenetics, evo devo, regulation of gene expression, genetic counseling, ethical issues, or closely related topics will be accepted. Send your submissions to admin AT epigeneticsnews DOT com.
AACR 2007: Epigenomics Improving Colorectal Cancer Detection Success Rate
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007Berlin- and Seattle-based Epigenomics AG has announced at the Annual Meeting 2007 of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) that it has significantly improved its success rate at detecting colorectal cancer by analyzing DNA methylation in blood serum. The increased success of detection was mediated by altering the assay procedure and rules for test [...]
Sympathy for the Virginia Tech Community
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007After a day to let the news sink in, the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech University in Blacksboro, Virginia are on the minds of myself and many of my co-workers and fellow students at Washington State University. There is plenty of coverage of the tragedy online, including up-to-the-minite details available at CNN. The [...]
Illumina Launches Custom Methylation Application
Monday, April 16th, 2007Today Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) launched a custom-content methylation product that allows researchers to perform methylation profiling specific to individual CpG sites. From the press release:
Joining Illumina’s GoldenGate Methylation Cancer Panel I, the Company’s first standard methylation product launched in January 2007, investigators now have the option to select their favorite genes or gene regions to [...]
Retrotransposon Silencing by DNA Methylation Can Drive Mammalian Imprinting
Friday, April 13th, 2007A new article was published today in PLoS Genetics concerning mammalian genomic imprinting — specifically, in the marsupial tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) and the egg-laying platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus):
Among mammals, only eutherians and marsupials are viviparous and have genomic imprinting that leads to parent-of-origin-specific differential gene expression. We used comparative analysis to investigate the origin of [...]
