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Two recent studies trace epigenetic marks in cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) to characterize the evolution of the epigenome in cancer.
A new study in Science identifies strong selective pressure on mitochondrial DNA during transmission through the female germ line, as well as an interplay with the nuclear genome that shapes mitochondrial genetic variation.
A study in Genome Biology reports an unbiased screen for human genomic regions at which interindividual variation in DNA methylation is consistent across cell types and tissues, providing new targets for studying epigenetic links to disease.
For appropriate control of gene expression, enhancers must communicate with the right target genes at the right time, typically over large genomic distances. In this Review, Schoenfelder and Fraser discuss our latest understanding of long-range enhancer–promoter crosstalk, including target-gene specificity, interaction dynamics, protein and RNA architects of interactions, roles of 3D genome organization and the pathological consequences of regulatory rewiring.
Throughout evolution, DNA has been the primary medium of biological information storage. In this article, Ceze, Nivala and Strauss discuss how DNA can be adopted as a storage medium for custom data, as a potential future complement to current data storage media such as computer hard disks, optical disks and tape. They discuss strategies for coding, decoding and error correction and give examples of implementation both in vitro and in vivo.
Despite the success of human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in associating genetic variants and complex diseases or traits, criticisms of the usefulness of this study design remain. This Review assesses the pros and cons of GWAS, with a focus on the cardiometabolic field.
Using the example of carbon concentrating mechanisms in plants, the authors of this Perspective provide evidence that broad comparative genomic analyses likely overestimate the genetic complexity underlying convergent evolution of complex traits.
