Tag Archives: diagnostics

Canada Joins the International Human Epigenome Consortium – Q&A with Tomi Pastinen of Génome Québec

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Chris Womack

In an ambitious project investigating the interplay of environment, disease, and epigenetics, Canada is funneling $41 million into epigenomics research. It’s a multi-pronged effort to scrutinize a variety of tissue samples, disease states, and responses to environmental insults, so I called up Tomi Pastinen, the Canada research chair in human genetics, to learn more about the project. Here’s a lightly edited transcript of our conversation. But first, more about the project itself. It’s Canada’s entrée into the International Human Epigenome Consortium, and its announcement last week follows closely on the heels of last year’s launch of a European IHEC effort, BLUEPRINT (see our interview with the project’s Henk Stunnenberg here). While BLUEPRINT focused on blood epigenomes, which is common in … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Models, Applications, DNA Methylation, Epigenome, Gene Regulation, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, Histone Modifications, Metabolism, Neuroscience, Next Gen Sequencing, Sodium Bisulfite Sequencing, Transcriptome | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Epigenetic Two-Punch Cancer Treatment from Johns Hopkins

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Chris Womack

The big news in epigenetics this week is a two-drug epigenetic combo that shows results as good as the best FDA-approved chemotherapy in fighting non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for about 80 percent such cancers. But missing from a lot of the mainstream accounts, the related study took a look at blood-based biomarkers, finding that they might serve as good indicators of whether a patient’s responding to treatment. Conducted by Johns Hopkins University’s Rosalind Juergens and colleagues, the phase I/II trial appears to be the most successful study of an epigenetic treatment of a solid tumor. I say this all the time, but keep in mind we’re still talking about a small sample size–the researchers studied 45 patients taking … Continue reading →

Posted in Applications, DNA Methylation, Diagnostics, Histone Modifications, Methyltransferases, Personalized Medicine, Translational Research | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q&A with BLUEPRINT’s Henk Stunnenberg on the New Leukemia, Blood Epigenome Project

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Chris Womack

The European Union’s $53.5 million, 4-year BLUEPRINT project launched this week with the ambitious goal of cataloging the epigenomes of 100 different cell types, with a focus on hematopoietic cells and leukemia disease states. The project is only the second such effort associated with the International Human Epigenome Consortium—the first being the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium—and it’s composed of 41 research entities, including university labs, research institutes, and drug and diagnostics companies. BLUEPRINT coordinator Henk Stunnenberg, a professor of molecular biology at the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, says the project may publish early work as soon as a year from now, and that the epigenomes it uncovers have the potential to generate diagnostics … Continue reading →

Posted in Applications, Biomarkers, Chromatin Structure, DNA Methylation, Diagnostics, Gene Regulation, Histone Modifications, New Lab Methods, Next Gen Sequencing, Sodium Bisulfite Sequencing, Translational Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Goal of Personalized Oncology and the Role of Epigenetic Biomarkers; Seeking to Conduct the Epigenetic Orchestra

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Nicole Kelesoglu

Cancer is a strong focus of epigenetic research. A critical issue in oncology is that average cancer treatment isn’t producing the best outcomes for the majority of people. Drug companies trying to produce effective treatments for the average of the population, struggle with poor results in large scale clinical trials. Patients are clamoring for personalized medicine. To meet this goal, clinicians need cancer biomarkers. Through excellent research efforts, epigenomics is adding a richer temporal dimension into our view of oncogenesis. Epigenetic regulation mechanisms act as a group of musicians playing from the composition of the genetic code. They play as a large orchestra of integrated gene networks, keeping cells on a differentiated path. Researchers have identified three main sections in … Continue reading →

Posted in History & Trends, Oncology, Personalized Medicine, Translational Research | Tagged , , | Leave a comment