The Chromatin Digest

Tag: human-and-mammalian

  • The epigenetics of winter

    —

    by

    Isabella
    in

    Snow in Finland, 2022. Picture is my own. If you’re in the UK, you’ve probably noticed the turn in the weather we’ve had recently. Half the trees have shed their autumn leaves, forming dark red blankets across the wet pavements, and if you leave the house without a thick coat, you’ll be confronted by the…

  • Switching memories on and off

    —

    by

    Isabella
    in

    The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí. Sourced from brushandbubbles.com under CC BY-NC 4.0. “Oh Science and Progress! / You great big wonderful world! Oh what have you done?” – Sir John Betjeman, 1940 Ever find yourself randomly thinking about an embarrassing memory, something you said or did years ago, and wishing you could forget…

  • Scanning the developing chromatome

    —

    by

    Isabella
    in

    The DNA-binding region of (human) SUV39H1, a key chromatin regulator identified by the authors with ChAC-DIA. Image from SINO Biological. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) exist in the embryo during early development and can develop into virtually any kind of cell in the body – pluripotent literally means “many-powered”. In the transition from early to late…

  • Lingering epigenetic signatures may underlie weight regain

    —

    by

    Isabella
    in

    The “yo-yo” effect: even after losing weight, it can be easily regained. Image from Enrique Calabuig on Flickr.com, under CC BY-SA 2.0. Individuals with obesity frequently regain lost weight over time, even following long-term intervention or surgery. However, due to the challenges of working with human fat tissue at a single-cell level, the cellular mechanisms…

  • Biologists discover how to make long distance work

    —

    by

    Isabella
    in

    Long-range enhancer-promoter contacts work like power lines, connecting regions of the genome which are very far away from each other. Image from pixnio.com under CC PDM 1.0. Enhancers are non-coding elements which are littered throughout the mammalian genome. Enhancers form three-dimensional physical contacts with gene promoters, the sequence immediately upstream (before) the gene’s protein/RNA coding…

  • Crime and methylation

    —

    by

    Isabella
    in

    Crime scene barrier. Image under Creative Commons license, sourced from hawkeyeforensic.com. From quitting smoking and drinking to avoiding specific foods, pregnant women are always advised to be in strict control of their physical health, as this directly impacts the health of the foetus. Foetal alcohol syndrome, for instance, results from excessive drinking during pregnancy. We…