Can the experiences of cells in one generation pass on characteristics to the next one? If you asked that question just a few years ago, the consensus answer would likely have been ‘no,’ but advances in the study of epigenetics are rapidly revealing instances where environment affects phenotype long after the fact. Rooted in complex modifications resulting in activation/inactivation of genes, epigenetics is one of the fastest advancing research areas in biology. Tracking happenings in the field is EpiGenie, a team that, in its own description, scours PubMed, peers over press releases, interviews researchers, and uses the technology they describe. EpiGenie is attractively laid out and abounds with useful techniques and the latest news. For researchers and the curious alike, EpiGenie is a must-see link.
[www.epigenie.com/index.html]
Showing posts with label Genomics/Proteomics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genomics/Proteomics. Show all posts
Mission Control
Like DaVinci's Vitruvian Man shown stretching out to the 24 human chromosomes on the opening page of the Human Chromosome Launchpad, visitors too can “reach out and touch” a lot of information at the well-designed Oak Ridge National Laboratories site. Cybernauts traveling here expecting only DNA sequences are in for a pleasant surprise. With an eye for hierarchy, the site's designers have organized an enormous amount of hyperlinked information about each chromosome into common categories, including Nomenclature, Genes/Markers/Disorders, Sequences, Maps, and others. This is a site worthy of recognition for easy retrieval of human DNA/protein information.
MethPrimer
Well, it’s not the prettiest website, but who ever said that primer websites had to be pretty, right? MethPrimer is a straightforward program for designing bisulfite-conversion-based methylation PCR primers, either for methylation-specific PCR (MSP) or bisulfite-sequencing PCR (BSP)/bisulfite-restriction PCR. The primer design program is pretty standard—paste a DNA sequence, choose parameters, and (ta-da!) you have primers. However, the other features of this site are what really make it worthwhile to visit. There are a number of links to protocols and other online resources (although, annoyingly, some of the links don’t take you to the specific page you need), as well as a methylation method forum. Whether you wish to lend your expertise to the H3 hyper-methylation question, or you’re wondering how to cleanup your amplicons, the forum is the place to go.
MethPrimer
www.urogene.org/methprimer/index.html
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