August, 2006	The Hidden Code of Stem Cells
	The DNA of embryonic stem cells is labeled in a unique and characteristic way, according to new research from scientists in California. The pattern could shed light on how embryonic stem cells maintain their ability to become any type of cell and might also help efforts to clone these cells, allowing scientists to develop better stem cell therapies. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to become virtually any cell in the body, making them the basis for potential therapies to treat everything from Parkinson's disease to diabetes. But before these cells can be developed into useful therapies, scientists must better understand the genetic root of the cells' unique properties -- and learn to control them. -Emily Singer, Technology Review, August 11, 2006 You can link to the primary research article here.
July, 2006	A naturally occurring epigenetic mutation in a gene encoding an SBP-box transcription factor inhibits tomato fruit ripening
	A major component in the regulatory network controlling fruit ripening is likely to be the gene at the tomato Colorless non-ripening (Cnr) locus. The Cnr mutation results in colorless fruits with a substantial loss of cell-to-cell adhesion. The nature of the mutation and the identity of the Cnr gene were previously unknown. -Manning et al. Nature Genetics 38, 948 - 952 (2006)
June, 2006	Can genes explain rising obesity?
	Contrary to conventional wisdom, the obesity epidemic is not restricted to people in Western countries who eat bad diets and are not very active. In developing countries, it is estimated that over 115 million people suffer from obesity-related problems. Experts believe that in many of these people these problems are not due to lifestyle but a condition called metabolic syndrome. -BBC News, June 27, 2006
March, 2006	Silent Struggle: A New Theory of Pregnancy
	Pregnancy can be the most wonderful experience life has to offer. But it can also be dangerous. Around the world, an estimated 529,000 women a year die during pregnancy or childbirth. Ten million suffer injuries, infection or disability.To David Haig, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, these grim statistics raise a profound puzzle about pregnancy. -Carl Zimmer, The New York Times, March 14, 2006
October, 2005	Skeletal muscle findings highlight the importance of exercise in obese people
	The skeletal muscle of severely obese people is "programmed" to amass fat, a study in the October 2005 issue of Cell Metabolism reveals. The findings suggest that muscle bears a metabolic memory of obesity, which may help to explain why sustained weight loss can be difficult despite cutting calories, according to the researchers. Exercise might more successfully override the aberrant metabolic program in muscle, they suggest, thereby improving the long-term prognosis of those prone to obesity. -News-Medical.Net, October 11, 2005 You can link to the primary research article here.
August, 2005	Adult cells transformed into stem cells: Genetic clock rewound
	A new type of hybrid cell created at Harvard University could eventually solve the mystery of how embryonic stem cells develop into specialized adult cells, and provide genetically tailored treatments for many human diseases. What's more, the technique holds out the possibility of doing this without creating or destroying human embryos. -William J. Cromie. Harvard University Gazette, August 22, 2005 You can link to the primary research article here.
August, 2005	Research is good news for chocoholics
	Chocolate consumers will benefit from a research project in Britain aimed at improving cocoa production and tackling pests and diseases, which wipe out up to one-third of the world crop each year. The Dutch Government and a UK-based industry body have donated 1.4 million ($2.53 million) to the world's first ever study of cocoa epigenetics: how the environment influences the plant's genes and how this changes over a tree's lifetime and under the effects of stresses such as disease and drought. -REUTERS The New Zealand Herald, August 17, 2005
July, 2005	Epigenetic drift in aging identical twins
	Those of you, like this author, who have managed to stay alive for close to eight decades or more, will have had the experience of observing increasing degrees of phenotypic discordances among our identical twin friends as we age together. They may succumb to the same disease, but often the age of onset is years or even decades apart. -George M. Martin. PNAS, July 26, 2005 You can link to the primary research article here.
March, 2005	Males can grow egg cells, too
	Female cells become eggs despite surrounding signals for male development. In mice, female germ cells can develop into viable ova in male testes, Japanese researchers report this week. Their paper in PNAS suggests that sex determination occurs early in embryonic development before genomic imprinting takes effect. -Laura M Hrastar. The Scientist, March 1, 2005 You can link to the primary research article here.
February, 2005	Epigenetics lives on in clones
	A cloned Xenopus embryo overexpressed genes that were being actively transcribed in its parent cell at the time the nucleus was transferred, according to a study published in this week's PNAS. This suggests that the embryo "remembers" what type of cell its nucleus came from, according to study co-author John Gurdon. He and Ray K. Ng of the University of Cambridge report that genes specific to the cell type of a transferred nucleus are turned on in the wrong tissues of some cloned embryos at early stages of development. -Melissa Phillips. The Scientist, Feb 2, 2005
August, 2004	Mice created without fathers
	The eggs had two sets of chromosomes from two female mice, rather than one from the mother and one from the father as in a normally fertilised embryo. -Paul Rincon. BBC News Online. April 21, 2004 You can also read the Nature paper that this article is based on here.
August, 2004	From chromatin to cancer: a new histone lysine methyltransferase enters the mix
	Disruption of post-translational modifications of histone proteins perturbs the proper pattern of gene expression and has the potential to result in diseases, such as cancer. A study implicating a new histone lysine methyltransferase in tumorigenesis further corroborates the emerging link between cancer and epigenetics. -Robert J. Sims 3rd & Danny Reinberg. Nature Cell Biology 6, 685 - 687 (2004)
August, 2004	Study Shows Cancer Cells May Revert
	A cloning experiment in mice indicates that for one type of cancer, at least, cancerous cells may be able to revert to normal. But the study does not reveal a way to cure cancer. Instead, it addresses a theoretical question about the genetic nature of one type of cancer... -Reuters. The New York Times, August 1, 2004
July, 2004	Hidden Flaws: Mouse Study Reveal Clones Appear Normal But Are Not
	Nearly 98 percent of attempts to clone animals have failed and those that do survive often appear abnormal and grossly enlarged. Now researchers say they have new evidence to explain why. -Amanda Onion ABC News, July 5 2004
March, 2001	Don't Clone Humans!
	The successes in animal cloning suggest to some that the technology has matured sufficiently to justify its application to human cloning. An in vitro fertilization specialist and a reproductive physiologist recently announced their intent to clone babies within a year's time. There are many social and ethical reasons why we would never be in favor of copying a person. However, our immediate concern is that this proposal fails to take into account problems encountered in animal cloning... -Rudolf Jaenisch and Ian Wilmut. Science, Vol 291, Issue 5513, 2552, 30 March 2001