Posts Tagged ‘epigenetics’

Newsweek: Transgenerational epigenetics is “the new Lamarckism”

Jan 26, 2009 commentary, environmental alterations, news links

A recent article in Newsweek from science writer Sharon Begley reports on “the new Lamarckism,” citing studies from epigenetics researchers, including Emma Whitelaw. The article seems to be all about transgenerational epigenetics, but rather than ever use the word “epigenetics,” the favored term is “the new Lamarckism.” Link

But evidence for the new Lamarckism is strong enough to say the last word on inheritance and evolution has not been written.

My guess is that Begley was intent on building up controversy in her opening that seemed to be criticizing evolution during Darwin’s big 200/150 year. And in that regard, she piqued the interest of one of the most popular science bloggers, PZ Myers, who criticized the article in a post on his blog–sending tons of traffic to Newsweek.

It’s very cool stuff, but evolutionary biologists are about as shocked by this as they are by the idea that malnourished mothers have underweight babies. That environmental influences can have multi-generational effects, and that developmental programs can cue off of the history of the germ line, is not a new idea, especially among developmental biologists.

One of the problems with calling epigenetics “the new Lamarckism” is that it can have the connotation that the field is going the way of Lamarckism, or that geneticists are unable to account for (or are afraid of acknowledging) these strange phenomena. In truth, geneticists are aware of these phenomena, and are eager to see what mechanism is at play in the inheritance of these traits across generations–whether it be methylation, small RNAs, or a host of other possibilities.

But no one in science is crying over the fact that epigenetics is uncovering more details about how disease is acquired or traits inherited.

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Epigenetics & Chromatin: Epigenetics Goes Open Access

Nov 19, 2008 news links, research articles

While Landes Bioscience made headway by debuting a journal devoted solely to epigenetics (Epigenetics), BMC has really opened the door to epigenetics research by debuting the first open-access journal devoted to epigenetics. Epigenetics & Chromatin is a new open-access option for researchers wanting to make their research available to a wider audience. The co-editors, Steven Henikoff and Frank Grosveld, are open to a wide range of topic areas:

Epigenetics & Chromatin will publish articles aimed at understanding how gene and chromosomal elements are regulated and their activities maintained during cell division, self-renewal, differentiation and environmental alteration. Epigenetic research encompasses studies that use model systems to discover and investigate epigenetic mechanisms, as well as studies aimed at combating diseases that involve epigenetic processes. Topics include, but are not limited to, gene activation, silencing and imprinting, cellular reprogramming, nucleosome modification, assembly and remodeling, DNA methylation, chromatin structure and dynamics, chromosomal maintenance elements, dosage compensation, intra- and inter-chromosomal interactions and prion inheritance. Approaches that apply cutting-edge technologies to problems in the field are especially welcome.>

A publication fee of US$1800 is pretty standard fare for an open-access journal, and I’ve heard that many scientists are willing to pay the fee if it means increased awareness (and citations) of their work. I have to believe that with an increased focus on the field from a diverse arrange of disciplines, Epigenetics & Chromatin will be a popular and high impact journal. Link

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Intro to Epigenetics

Jul 22, 2008 commentary, news links

University of Minnesota-Morris biologist PZ Myers has written an introduction to epigenetics at Pharyngula, with some nice illustrations of some of the basic concepts and mechanisms that are generally grouped under the heading of “epigenetics.” It’s a great way to bring yourself up to speed if you don’t know much about epigenetics and want a single article to give you the basics. I’ve come to realize that the majority of the readers here are not in that crowd, as many are working in research labs and companies that have some connection to the area of epigenetics and want to keep up on the very latest developments in epigenetics. So for those are you that are not part of that group, I highly recommend that you head over to this article and read about the basics of epigenetics. Link

One of the questions brought up in the article, which has been covered here before, is what all falls under the umbrella of epigenetics? I think that this is largely an issue of semantics, with some established researchers having an interest in restricting the use of the word in literature, and many others expanding the reach of the word to greater and greater lengths. As I’ve mentioned before, I think this trend is largely a result of the funding opportunities available, and the general trend in recent years as epigenetics becoming one of the “hot new” areas of science.

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A Professor and a Graduate Student Mull Over Epigenetics

Jul 20, 2008 news links

PZ Myers (Pharyngula), an associate professor in developmental biology, and Abigail Smith (erv), a graduate student studying retoroviral evolution, talk about a number of topics in a bloggingheads.tv exchange, including epigenetics. The segment of the video discussing epigenetics is embedded below.

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Epigenetics News Returns

Jun 18, 2008 site news

In February 2008, I made the decision to shut down this blog in order to spend more time focusing on completing my degree and pushing my research project forward. Last month I completed my B.S. in Genetics and Cell Biology at Washington State University after an extremely stressful four years in which I tried to balance responsibilities as a full-time student, undergraduate researcher, husband, father, and blogger, among many other pursuits. This year, something had to give as my class schedule was extremely demanding and lab courses required a much larger share of my time. In addition, I had decided not to attend graduate school right away and was turning my attention to finding a research technician position in the area. That search is still ongoing, and I have applied for and interviewed with a number of research labs at WSU.

It’s amazing how quickly you learn about other research programs under way when you begin to interview for positions. Many of the PIs hiring are working on newly funded grants that have not yet been publicly disclosed, and being able to get a glimpse of the work being done in a wide range of research areas has been a great educational opportunity. I have been working on a particular project for the last 3+ years (still ongoing), and it’s easy to become so immersed in your research that you forget about what others are doing around you. The job search has been a refreshing change of pace and I am looking forward to the next stage in my research career, whatever that may be.

With that said, epigenetics research has continued to capture my attention over the past four months. This area of research has produced dramatic advances in our understanding of stem cells, cloning, cancer, development, nutrition, toxicology, and many other areas. With one educational milestone completed, it has opened up a space to continue to highlight important advances in epigenetics research at Epigenetics News. With some additional time available — and my newly acquired knowledge of important concepts and techniques critical to interpreting current research — I hope to make this project more of what I originally envisioned and present a more coherent view of the epigenetics research landscape.

Thank you to all of you who offered your encouragement and support for this project, and especially to those that stuck around as RSS or newsletter subscribers while the site displayed abstracts. Welcome back!

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Science Links for December 8, 2007

Dec 8, 2007 news links

  • One of the postdocs here in the Skinner lab, Dr. Ramji Bhandari, has started a blog related to his area of expertise, Sex Determination Research. Ramji is new to blogging and decided to get his feet wet with a number of relevent abstracts, which will be a nice resource for those interested in sex determination.
  • Cautious forays into open science continue. Dr. Rosie Redfield of the University of British Columbia is a vocal supporter, and recently explained her philosophy in blogging about her current experiments and encouraging her lab members to do the same.

    • Also, Pedro Beltrao is testing the use of Google Code as a management system for conducting an open science experiment involving domain family expansion.

  • The Pump Handle, a blog that provides editorials and commentary on emerging trends and issues in public health, has started a new feature, Journal Scan, that provides explanations of research papers in easily understandable language. Anyone with an interest in public health can break down a paper and send it in for publication.
  • Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is home to Steve Henikoff, who is profiled in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Henikoff is a Howard Hughes investigator and a leader in epigenetics research. The profile exmaines his entire life, from growing up in Chicago to developing (with wife Jorja) the BLOSUM protein alignment scoring matrix, while in the process delving into some of the science that Henikoff has helped push forward over the course of his career.

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