DNA Methylation News and Research

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DNA methylation is a type of chemical modification of DNA that can be inherited and subsequently removed without changing the original DNA sequence. As such, it is part of the epigenetic code and is also the most well characterized epigenetic mechanism.

Study identifies gene that influences risk of obesity in adulthood

The importance of good nutrition in the early development of children has been recognized for many decades. Nutritional experiences in early life can have profound and long-lasting effects on body weight in later life.

13 Mar 2018

Research shows how viruses inactivate immune system, causing cancer

It's no new news that viruses cause cancer. For example, human papillomavirus causes almost all of the more than 500,000 annual worldwide cases of cervical cancer.

2 Mar 2018

Study unlocks big puzzle in familial breast cancer

Mutations in known breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 are identified in only approximately 20 per cent of women who are offered genetic testing for familial breast cancer.

1 Mar 2018

Asthmatics have lower degree of DNA methylation in certain immune cells

Children with asthma have epigenetic DNA changes in certain cells of their immune system, a major international study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows. The finding, which is presented in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, can one day lead to improved diagnostics and treatment.

23 Feb 2018

Epigenetic changes due to normal aging process linked to cancer risk

Some scientists have hypothesized that tumor-promoting changes in cells during cancer development--particularly an epigenetic change involving DNA methylation--arise from rogue cells escaping a natural cell deterioration process called senescence.

22 Feb 2018

Researchers target abnormal epigenetic mechanisms involved in childhood cancers

Several childhood cancer cell types show features of immature neural cells, and there is evidence suggesting that these tumors may arise from neural crest stem cells that underwent abnormal changes during embryonic development.

20 Feb 2018

Father's age can affect offspring lifespan, mice study shows

How does the father's age at conception affect his children? Researchers at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease and fellow scientists have studied this question in mice.

20 Feb 2018

Researchers uncover new details about function of enigmatic protein

In a recent study, a research group at MedUni Vienna has published further details about the function of an enigmatic protein. The biological necessity of this protein, which can chemically alter certain building blocks of the genetic information, has been debated for quite a while.

14 Feb 2018

Researchers solve crystal structure for enzyme that plays key role in DNA methylation

A research team led by a biochemist at the University of California, Riverside has solved the crystal structure for an enzyme that plays a key role in DNA methylation, the process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule.

7 Feb 2018

Computational approach can help identify chemoresistant potential targets in cancer stem cells

In cancer, one of the most important features is the methylation of deoxycytosine to form 5-methylcytosine (5mC). DNA methylation is a process by which methyl groups (structural units of organic compounds consisting of three hydrogen atoms bonded to a carbon atom) are added to the DNA molecule.

30 Jan 2018

Study finds new marker to detect fatal breast cancer

A new study conducted at the University College London, UK, found a new marker that has the capacity to help diagnose fatal breast cancer up to one year earlier than existing methods.

22 Dec 2017

Epigenetics: A New Tool for Forensic Detectives

Developing analytical methods can help the triers of fact, judges and juries, better understand the events surrounding the circumstances of a crime. In forensic analysis, we are talking about determining the identity of unknown individuals through DNA and using DNA and other chemical signatures to determine and clarify the circumstances of the crime.

From Pittcon 20 Dec 2017

Scientists develop test to predict treatment outcomes in patients with childhood leukemia

UC San Francisco physician-scientists have developed a test that can predict how patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) will respond to treatment, and may also be able to identify patients who are likely to recover spontaneously with little to no treatment.

19 Dec 2017

Researchers link stress-related genetic changes to suicide risk and psychiatric illness

Researchers have linked genetic changes in the so-called CRH gene, which affects the regulation of the body's stress system, to suicide risk and psychiatric illness.

19 Dec 2017

Studies reveal possibility for memory T cells to serve a dual purpose

Scientists of two new complementary studies researching mice and humans claim that they have the strongest evidence yet that memory T cells responsible for long-term immune protection also serve an additional role.

14 Dec 2017

Scientists develop new, high resolution method for identifying microbial species and strains

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Sema4, and collaborating institutions New York University and the University of Florida today published a report detailing their new, more accurate method for identifying individual microbial species and strains in a community.

13 Dec 2017

Tgen And Baylor secure federal grant to develop early detection system for pancreatic cancer

A group of the nation's premier cancer researchers led by the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute -- has secured a $5.13 million federal grant to develop an early detection system for pancreatic cancer, the nation's third-leading cause of cancer-related death.

11 Dec 2017

Research findings will help identify genetic causes of brain disorders

New findings will help to identify the genetic causes of brain disorders: researchers at the Universities of Basel, Bonn and Cologne have presented a systematic catalog of specific variable locations in the genome that influence gene activity in the human hippocampus, as they report in the journal Nature Communications.

27 Nov 2017

3D folding of DNA during cardiomyocyte differentiation provides vital epigenetic mechanisms, study says

A new study conducted at the University of Freiburg suggests that three-dimensional (3D) folding of the DNA reorganizes itself during differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to cardiomyocytes.

22 Nov 2017

Research suggests genome's spatial organization as important switch for defining cell types

During differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to cardiomyocytes, the three-dimensional folding of the DNA reorganizes itself. This reorganization of the DNA architecture precedes and defines important epigenetic patterns.