epigenetics

SP140, an epigenetic reader protein mutated in a number of autoimmune disorders, is essential for macrophage function and preventing intestinal inflammation, scientists show. 

Need help explaining CRISPR, epigenome, or rock snot? The Merriam-Webster dictionary has you covered.

Unlike animals, plants stably pass on their DNA methylomes from one generation to the next. The resulting gene silencing likely hides an abundance of phenotypic variation.

Robert Martienssen, who studies plant epigenetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, discusses the brilliance of pioneering geneticist Barbara McClintock, with whom he worked before her death in 1992.

Multiple molecular mechanisms keep plant DNA methylation in order.

Researchers attempt to estimate how much of the human genome’s methylation patterns can be attributed to genetic ancestry.

After initially discovering that DNA methylation represses transcription, Howard Cedar continues to explore how the epigenetic mark regulates gene expression.

Plants grown in dry soil produce offspring that are hardier in drought conditions, and DNA methylation appears responsible. 

iPSCs created through the reprogramming of human somatic cells retain genomic marks of the donor’s age.

Researchers are beginning to decipher the metabolic language of the microbiome, and determine how gut microbes communicate with host tissue.

The International Human Epigenome Consortium presents a series of studies on how epigenetics influences immunity, cell lineage determination, and differentiation.

A molecular biologist ventures into entomology to use genetically modified ants as laboratory models of behavioral epigenetics.

A selection of notable quotes from the annual American Association for Cancer Research meeting

Methylation on adenine bases is involved in the dampening of gene expression in mammalian cells, according to a study.

Disease risk can be transmitted epigenetically via egg and sperm cells, a mouse study shows.

A study on human cells reveals how cellular aging affects the 3-D architecture of chromosomes.

Histone modifications to the DNA of Florida carpenter ants can turn soldiers into foragers.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior University of California, Irvine. Age: 39

Two mutations in a gene involved in telomere extension reverse the gene’s epigenetic silencing.

Understanding the biological roots of cooperation might help resolve some of the biggest scientific challenges we face.