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The epigenome editors: How tools such as CRISPR offer new details about epigenetics

Nature Medicine volume 23, pages 900–903 (2017)Cite this article

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Over the next several years, Nestler's lab began to amass evidence to support this hypothesis. He and his colleagues found that drugs such as cocaine can alter the epigenome. But with each new experiment, Nestler butted up against the same stubborn problem: he had tools for altering the epigenome, but they weren't precise. He could dramatically alter the expression of genes that add or remove marks. But this strategy changed the epigenome at hundreds or even thousands of sites. Nestler had no way to target epigenetic tags on specific genes.

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  1. Cassandra Willyard is a freelance science writer in Madison, Wisconsin.

    • Cassandra Willyard
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  1. Cassandra Willyard
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Willyard, C. The epigenome editors: How tools such as CRISPR offer new details about epigenetics. Nat Med 23, 900–903 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0817-900

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