Research Highlights

Enzymatic glycosylation and oxidation of methylated DNA together with high-throughput sequencing allows genome-wide base-resolution of 5-hydroxymethyl cytosine distribution.

Human embryonic stem cells are screened with a panel of antibodies to identify cellular subsets that may correspond to early human progenitor cell populations.

A surprising hydrogel formation promises insight on prions and RNA transport.

A nanofluidic device can sort single DNA molecules based on their epigenetic marks.

A flurry of recent papers report refinements to the activity and the assembly of engineered nucleases.

With the help of engineered polymerases and reverse transcriptases, synthetic nucleic acids can encode and pass on genetic information.

Recombineering between two linear molecules enables long sequences to be efficiently cloned from a genomic mixture.

Radio waves and iron nanoparticles could hold the key to targeted perturbation of cells deep inside living tissue.

Bisulfite sequencing of chromatin-immunoprecipitated material allows a direct assessment of cytosine methylation in histone-modified regions of DNA.

Bioinformatic discrimination of siRNAs that perturb cells via direct versus indirect effects can improve data quality and change hit lists in image-based screens.

Fly rhythms under natural light and temperature differ from those in the lab.

Downregulation of natural antisense transcripts enhances expression of their sense counterparts.

A dimerization-dependent red fluorescent protein provides a new strategy for biosensor design.

A milling technique affords researchers a high-resolution glimpse deep into the cell using cryoelectron tomography.

A simple microfluidic device allows long-term imaging of single budding yeast cells.

Proteomics analysis of polyclonal antibodies guides monoclonal production.

Two methodological approaches allow researchers to manipulate the formation and reactivation of memories in mice.

Tools to study stem cell function in planarians continue to accumulate. Researchers now image growing stem cell clones in these animals and make quantitative phenotypic measurements in vivo.

Voltage-driven and enzyme-regulated control allows precise ratcheting of a DNA strand in and out of a nanopore.

Statistical methods vary widely in the power to predict which rare genetic sequence variants are functional.