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Recent advances in genotyping technology have identified or confirmed more than 20 loci that are associated with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These findings add detail to our current understanding of the molecular basis of this complex disease and provide new avenues for investigation.
Recent studies have shown that viral oncoproteins induce specific epigenetic changes to stimulate the replication of normally quiescent cells. These findings have implications for understanding the roles of epigenetics in cancer, and in normal biological processes such as differentiation.
DNA methylation and histone modification are important for regulating gene expression and chromatin structure. New evidence suggests there are multiple levels of crosstalk between these marks. Understanding this crosstalk will be important for elucidating the role of epigenetics in development and disease.
Plant growth is controlled by both intrinsic and environmental signals and is mediated by hormonal signalling. Hormones are important for maintaining and regulating stem cell compartments in postembryonic plants, and current research is revealing many interactions between different hormone pathways.
Genome-wide association studies have identified many promising links between genetic variants and human traits. However, the steps from the initial identification of associated markers to the reliable validation of the causal variant are long and tortuous, as the authors describe.
For several years, large funding bodies have made data sharing a requirement of support for all projects. Although such open access policies have benefited the progress of science, it is worth considering how they are affecting scientific practice.
Stable, non-genetically variant cells can arise in clonal populations owing to gene expression noise and the multi-stability of gene networks. This Perspective proposes that such non-genetic yet heritable heterogeneity contributes to tumour evolution, and might explain the acquisition of traits such as drug resistance.