Epigenetics News and Research

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

Healthy diet might help reduce risk of macular degeneration

Eating a diet high in vitamin D, as well as the nutrients betaine and methionine, might help reduce the risk of macular degeneration, according to new research conducted by Tufts Medical Center scientists. Their study of identical twins from the US World War II Twin Registry also found that the more a person smoked, the higher their risk of developing macular degeneration.

6 Jul 2011

U-M researchers a step closer to developing treatments for aging and chronic diseases

As our bodies first form, developing cells are a lot like children put on the school bus with their names and addresses pinned to their shirts. The notes identify one as a future heart cell, another as a liver cell, a third as a neuron. And that's what they each grow up to be. But once those cells reach adulthood, changes to those original marching orders caused by aging, disease and other stressors like smoking can precipitate a kind of identity crisis, researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found.

2 Jul 2011

Six new scientists to receive SWCRF grants for cancer research

This year, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation awarded individual grants to six new researchers in addition to funding 18 collaborative grants and three ongoing individual grants. The Foundation expanded its scientific grants program to a total of more than $3.1 million.

1 Jul 2011

Epigenetics affects whether or not stem cells differentiate

Adult stem cells and progenitor cells may not come with a clean genetic slate after all. That's because a new report in the FASEB Journal shows that adult stem or progenitor cells have their own unique "epigenetic signatures," which change once a cell differentiates. This is important because epigenetic changes do not affect the actual make up in a cell's DNA, but rather, how that DNA functions.

1 Jul 2011

Scientists identify central switch responsible for epilepsy

UC Irvine and French researchers have identified a central switch responsible for the transformation of healthy brain cells into epileptic ones, opening the way to both treat and prevent temporal lobe epilepsy.

28 Jun 2011

EnVivo initiates EVP-0962 GSM Phase 1 clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease

EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, a company dedicated to developing a broad range of novel central nervous system (CNS) therapies, announced today that it recently initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of EVP-0962, its potent and selective gamma secretase modulator (GSM), in healthy volunteers.

27 Jun 2011

Chaos in biochemical alterations of cancer cells

Using the latest gene sequencing tools to examine so-called epigenetic influences on the DNA makeup of colon cancer, a Johns Hopkins team says its results suggest cancer treatment might eventually be more tolerable and successful if therapies could focus on helping cancer cells get back to normal in addition to strategies for killing them.

27 Jun 2011

Stresses can change gene expression without DNA sequence change

None of us are strangers to stress of various kinds. It turns out the effects of all those stresses can change the fate of future generation, influencing our very DNA without any change to the underlying sequence of As, Gs, Ts and Cs. Now, researchers reporting in the June 24th issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, have new evidence that helps to explain just how these epigenetic changes really happen.

24 Jun 2011

RIKEN researchers reveal mechanism for stress-induced epigenetic change

Researchers at RIKEN have uncovered a mechanism by which the effects of stress in the fly species Drosophila are inherited epigenetically over many generations through changes to the structure of chromatin, the material that makes up the cell nucleus.

24 Jun 2011

CBMi creates iPad app for exploring human genomic information

Navigating the human genome with software that you can view on an iPad® sounds pretty impressive, until perhaps you reflect that nature has already encoded trillions of copies of this in your chromosomes. Then again, printing that data using ink and paper would produce a mind-staggering pile of pages—so viewing it on an iPad® may be impressive after all.

24 Jun 2011

Majority of cancers are due to epigenetic influences

Dr. Ajay Goel, Ph.D., Director of Epigenetics and Cancer Prevention at the Gastrointestinal Research Center at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX, has announced plans for a series of upcoming studies to continue to unlock the mechanisms by which curcumin prevents cancer via its influence on epigenetic activity.

23 Jun 2011

Smoking may increase risk of death from prostate cancer

Men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer and who are also smokers have an associated increased risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and prostate cancer-specific death, according to a study in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA.

22 Jun 2011

ISSCR honors UCSF cancer scientist with 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award

UCSF's Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, has received the 2011 Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Stem Cell Research, for his pioneering research on the role of molecular tools known as microRNAs in embryonic stem cells and cancer.

16 Jun 2011

Mothers' B vitamin intake protects children against intestinal tumors

Mice born to mothers who are fed a diet supplemented with B vitamins are less likely to develop intestinal tumors, report scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University.

10 Jun 2011

Constellation raises $15M in Series B extension financing

Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading biopharmaceutical company in the field of epigenetics, today announced that it has raised $15 million in a Series B extension financing. All major current investors participated in the round, including Third Rock Ventures, The Column Group, Venrock Associates, SR One and Altitude Life Science Ventures.

6 Jun 2011

Researchers identify 'epigenetic fingerprints' of healthy volunteers, patients with common diseases

Until a decade, it was believed that differences between people were due solely to the existence of genetic changes, which are alterations in the sequence of our genes. The discoveries made during these last ten years show that beings with the same genetics like the twins and cloned animals may have different characteristics and disease due to epigenetic changes.

4 Jun 2011

Syndax receives U.S. patent for entinostat to treat metastatic cancers

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage epigenetics oncology company, today announced allowance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office of Patent Application Serial No. 12/549458 entitled: " N-(2-AMINOPHENYL)-4[N-(PYRIDINE-3-YL)- METHOXYCARBONYL—AMINOMETHYL]-BENZAMINE (MS-275) POLYMORPH B."

3 Jun 2011

Green tea consumption increases number of 'regulatory T cells', prevents autoimmune disease

One of the beneficial compounds found in green tea has a powerful ability to increase the number of "regulatory T cells" that play a key role in immune function and suppression of autoimmune disease, according to new research in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

3 Jun 2011

Gestational high-fat diet programs woman's baby for future diabetes

A high-fat diet during pregnancy may program a woman's baby for future diabetes, even if she herself is not obese or diabetic, says a new University of Illinois study published in the Journal of Physiology.

26 May 2011

Salk researchers successfully edit diseased gene in patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells

In principle, genetic engineering is simple, but in practice, replacing a faulty gene with a healthy copy is anything but. Using mutated versions of the lamin A gene as an example to demonstrate the versatility of their virus-based approach, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies successfully edited a diseased gene in patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells as well as adult stem cells.

21 May 2011