SCOT NICHOLLSResearchers have made an extensive map of several types of methylation in the brains of mice and humans. The work, described in Science today (July 4), shows that epigenetic modification varies greatly over the course of development but is remarkably consistent between individuals and between mice and humans.
“This is the very first full-scale profiling into DNA methylation in the developing brain,” said Paolo Sassone-Corsi, a molecular biologist at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the research. “It basically is a wealth of amazing information for a large number of researchers.”
Study author Margarita Behrens, a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute in San Diego, said she started the project because she wanted to understand the role of epigenetic changes in the brain as mental illnesses took hold in humans. She chose to look at DNA methylation—a process in which methyl groups are added to nucleotides—in the frontal cortex because the brain region is associated with executive function and can show abnormalities in people with mental disorders.
Using whole genome ...
