Randy Jirtle on Imprinting
Dr. Randy Jirtle covers the epigenetic basis of imprinting, the risks of imprinting, and why imprinted genes may be preserved evolutionarily when they introduce such risk to organisms.
Dr. Randy Jirtle is a professor of radiation oncology and an associate professor of pathology at Duke University. He has been an advocate for epigenetics research for years and presented at the 2004 Nobel Symposium on Epigenetic Reprogramming in Development. Dr. Jirtle's lab has published many major scientific studies that shed light on how environmentally induced epigenetic modifications can impact our health for many generations.
Kevin Morris on Transcriptional Gene Silencing
Dr. Kevin Morris discusses using non-coding RNAs to modulate how a gene is expressed, the benefits of the approach, and how it just might lead to more useful therapies in the near future.
Kevin Morris is an Assistant Professor at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA where his lab is focuses on determining the role of non-coding RNAs in epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of gene expression in human cells. Morris and his team are particularly interested in developing effector RNAs capable of transcriptionally silencing or activating genes involved in diseases such as HIV-1, cancers, and genetic ailments such as cystic fibrosis.
Peter Jones Video on Epigenetics and Improved Therapies for Cancer
Dr. Peter Jones shares his perspective on the latest excitement in epigenetics research and the future potential of epigenetic therapies.
Peter A. Jones, PhD, DSc, Director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, is a Distinguished Professor of Urology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, and the H. Leslie Hoffman and Elaine S. Hoffman Chair in Cancer Research. He is known for his studies on the molecular biology of cancer and of basic mechanisms of DNA methylation and its role in cancer and differentiation. In 1980 Dr. Jones made a seminal discovery, that the drug 5-azacytidine can induce profound changes in gene expression at the same time that it is a powerful inhibitor of DNA methylation.
Peter Laird Video on The Changing Face of Cancer Epigenetics
Dr. Peter Laird discusses the changing face of cancer and how epigenetics is playing a role.
Peter Laird, PhD, is an assistant professor of surgery, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine and a director of the USC Epigenome Center. He pioneered the use of mouse models to investigate the causal contribution of DNA methylation to cancer and invented two DNA methylation assays, COBRA and MethyLight, which are still widely used today.
Gene Yeo Video: RNAs in a Bind
Dr. Gene Yeo highlights the complex interactions between RNA and proteins in key biological mechanisms that drive proper functioning of our brain and other key organs.
Gene Yeo, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego. Gene's research is focused on the roles of RNA-binding proteins in human genetic and infectious diseases, microRNA pathways in the specification of pluripotency and fate choice, the systematic elucidation of RNA-binding protein–RNA maps in cancer cells, and engineering approaches to stem cell fate choices.