Nicotine creates heritable epigenetic marks on the genome, say Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute scientists who contend that a grandparent’s smoking habits may be responsible for asthma and other respiratory conditions in grandchildren. Their controversial take onepigenetics (where an environmental factor causes a genetic change), appearing in the Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology, further suggests […]
Male pseudoscorpions treated with tetracycline suffer significantly reduced sperm viability and this toxic effect is passed on to their untreated sons, say University of Nevada researchers who believe a similar effect could occur in humans. Tetracycline is commonly used as an additive in animal feed and also as an antimicrobial therapy in developing countries. Researcher […]
“Genes are not destiny,” say the Salk Institute scientists who have been delving into the epigenetic code that allows organisms to develop and pass down new biological traits far more rapidly than via DNA genetic coding.Their groundbreaking study, published inScience, provides the first evidence that an organism’s epigenetic code – an extra layer of biochemical […]
Scientists have identified a way to detect autism with a blood sample and have discovered that drugs which affect the methylation state (so-called “DNA tagging”) of genes could reverse autism’s effects. The researchers hope the new study, appearing in theFASEB Journal, will lead to therapies designed to address specific deficiencies that are caused by autism. […]
Scientists from Yale have shown how exposure to the ubiquitous chemical bisphenol A (BPA) induces epigenetic changes in pregnant mice that trigger hormonal imbalances in the later life of female offspring. BPA is an estrogen-like chemical that is a common component of plastics used to contain food. It is also used in baby bottles, refillable […]
The latest American Journal of Human Biology contains details of two studies that contend that poor nutrition and stress – stemming back to the days of slavery – could help explain black-white differences in cardiovascular health in the United States. In one study, researchers from Northwestern University explain how nutrients and hormones present in the […]
In epigenetic inheritance, hereditary information flows from parents to offspring not via DNA, but through the millions of proteins and other molecules that cling to the DNA strands. These modifications of DNA, known as “epigenetic marks,” act as both a switch and a dial – they can determine which genes should be turned on or […]
A team of McGill University scientists have discovered important differences between the brains of suicide victims who suffered abuse as children and so-called normal brains. The differences are in their epigenetic marking – a chemical coating on the DNA that is influenced by environmental factors. Epigenetic changes do not involve changes in the actual DNA, […]
The mechanisms behind epigenetic inheritance (where changes in gene expression can be passed between generations without changes in the underlying DNA sequence of the organism) are becoming better understood thanks to scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). Reporting inCurrent Biology, CSHL professor Rob Martienssen explains that he and his team are studying the way […]
