Epigenetics News and Research

RSS

Epigenetics is the study of chemical reactions that influence gene expression, through activation or deactivation of genes at specific times and locations.

Study Reveals How Plants Override Genetic Instructions Through DNA Duplication

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the origin of a curious duplication that gives plants multiple ways to override instructions that are coded into their DNA.

7 Nov 2024

Study Uncovers Mechanism Behind B-Cell Maturation in Leukemia

Over four hundred people, 80% of them being children under 14 years old, will be diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (B-ALL) next year in Spain, according to the latest projections from the Spanish network of cancer registries (REDECAN).

23 Oct 2024

Transposable Elements Drive a Critical Transition in Early Embryogenesis

Researchers at Sinai Health have discovered that DNA elements known as transposons, which may travel throughout the genome, control a crucial stage in early human development instead of human genes.

16 Oct 2024

Transposable Elements Are Key to Normal Progression of Embryonic Cells

A critical transition in early human development is regulated not by our own genes, but by DNA elements called transposons that can move around the genome, Sinai Health researchers have found.

16 Oct 2024

Disrupting a Gene Boosts T Cell Therapy, St. Jude Study Shows

Immunotherapy, using a patient's own immune system to treat disease, has shown promise in some patients with cancer but has not worked in most.

15 Oct 2024

New Insights into the Epigenetic Hallmarks of Cancer

Cancer mortality has just surpassed cardiovascular disease for the first time ever and one in two men, and one in three women, will be diagnosed with some form of the disease in the US, according to the NIH.

3 Oct 2024

Targeting the TCA Cycle to Reduce Post-TB Mortality

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions have discovered a mechanism that causes the long-term decline in immune response observed after tuberculosis (TB) is successfully treated.

1 Oct 2024

Epigenetic Switch Found to Activate Genes in Embryos

Researchers led by the Institute of Molecular Biology have found that 5-formylcytosine (5fC), a DNA alteration, acts as an activating epigenetic switch to activate genes during the early stages of embryonic development.

19 Sep 2024

Study Reveals Unique DNA Replication Dynamics in Early Embryogenesis

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics (BDR) in Japan have made a novel discovery that challenges long-held beliefs about DNA replication.

29 Aug 2024

CDCA7's Role in DNA Methylation Maintenance Revealed in Recent Study

DNA methylation is a process in which a methyl group is attached to the cytosine base of the DNA molecule, and a major way that DNA is epigenetically marked. Epigenetic modifications can act as on-off switches to regulate gene expression and help generate diverse cell types without changing the underlying DNA sequence. It is how the body ensures that brain-related genes don't get turned on in heart cells, for example.

28 Aug 2024

New Discovery in Mitochondrial DNA Regulation May Halt Heritable Disease Onset

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a mechanism in DNA that regulates how disease-causing mutations are inherited.

23 Aug 2024

Study Identifies Key Macrophage Subpopulations in MASH Progression and Regression

Formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is an inflammatory disease characterized by liver scarring or fibrosis that progressively impairs liver function.

23 Aug 2024

Mitochondrial DNA Enzymes Prevent Disease Mutations

Researchers at the University of Queensland have identified a mechanism in DNA that controls the inheritance of disease-causing mutations.

22 Aug 2024

Ancient Viral Remnants Serve as Accurate Aging Clock

DNA markers linked to retroelements - remaining pieces of ancient viral genetic material - in human genes have been found by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the epigenetics startup TruDiagnostic.

20 Aug 2024

Study Reveals Mechanisms Behind Lineage Restriction in Cell Development

A team of researchers from multiple institutions including the University of Chicago and VectorBuilder, has made a significant breakthrough in the understanding of lineage restriction, a biological phenomenon foundational to multicellular lifeforms as it secures the functional identities of the myriad cell types in the body.

14 Aug 2024

Utah Scientists Begin New Project to Map Epigenetic Changes Across the Human Genome

The Human Genome Project changed everything. A map of the entire human sequence of DNA was the starting point for an enormous number of discoveries, from disease genes to how humans evolved.

12 Aug 2024

Mast Cells Recruit Neutrophils in Immune Response

Mast cells are well-known for their part in allergic reactions, but the immune system relies heavily on them. They release chemicals in response to allergens, which cause common allergy symptoms like tissue swelling and inflammation.

5 Aug 2024

Cost-Effective Array Sheds Light on Imprinted Gene Regulation

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed an array that assesses methylation levels of genes located in imprint control regions (ICRs) within the human genome. The array represents a cost-effective, efficient method for exploring potential links between environmental exposures and epigenetic dysregulation during the early developmental origins of diseases and behavioral disorders.

26 Jul 2024

New Pipeline Studies Viruses in Humans and Coral Reefs

Tens of millions of still-unknown or poorly understood viruses have the potential to cause diseases, including new pandemics, and impact the health of valuable terrestrial and marine environments.

10 Jul 2024

Scientists develop first fully functional human immune system in mouse model

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio have produced a mouse model that is humanized, complete with a human immune system and a gut microbiome that resembles that of a human being and is able to elicit particular antibody responses.

8 Jul 2024