Connection Between Epigenome, Selective Mutability, Evolution, and Human Disease
Li, Harris et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and elsewhere propose a "connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease" based on the findings of their study on associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination mediated by low-copy repeats. "Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability," the Baylor-led team writes.
Genome Editing For the Win
December 30, 2011
Nature Methods lauds genome editing with engineered nucleases as its 2011 Method of the Year. The journal says that, with an eye toward clinical application, researchers have for years toiled with nuclease engineering, generating "very powerful basic research tools … in the process."