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.
Princeton’s Cristea Using Mass Spec to Study How Viruses Manipulate Hosts
Ileana Cristea, an assistant professor in molecular biology at Princeton University, has been using mass spectrometry to study chromatin and its modulation by viruses. Earlier this month, she was named one of three recipients of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s new, $2.5 million Avant-Garde awards, given to researchers whose work may lead to groundbreaking insight into the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in drug abusers.
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