TRAIN Scholar James Head's Blog

  Some cancers are believed to be caused via epigenetic mutations.  Cancer stem  cells, "CSC's", can be made and maintained through  the  epigenome  via altered histones and  methylations. This  reprogramming of cell  production changes not  only what type of  cell  is being made, the  gene  expression, but how  rapidly. Scientists  are  still working on  ways  to restore the epigenome  of these cells as a  way  to fight  cancers,  such as leukemia. 

 Epigenetics influences more than just humans. Aquatic life also have their own epigenome. The microbes, fish, mammals, etc. all rely on a healthy epigenome to regulate their cells. Like ours, aquatic life's epigenome can be altered by their environment.  One factor is their surrounding temperature, which is being impacted by overall climate change. As ocean temperatures change, the organisms epigenome can be altered.  Another factor is pollution. Toxic chemicals from oil spills, discarded medications, or microplastics can change the epigenome. This in turn affects their ability to function, survive, and procreate, devastating microbial populations.  Why is this important?  Much of the worlds oxygen is produced from microbes in the water. Greenhouse gases are partially regulated by these microbes.  Changes in epigenome can affect microbial populations and their ability to function. Fewer microbes means less oxygen and more greenhouse gases. Fewer micro...

 I am not an expert. This is by no means a perfect example of methodologies, but rather a fake scenario to provide a basic idea of how epigenetics can possibly help solve crimes: Lets say a forensic specialist is working a case in Arizona about a suspected serial killer. The police have followed evidence to a residence with two suspects who live together, but they are identical twin brothers. Who is our killer?  We find a kitchen knife with three sets of DNA on it. Both twins use the knife at home for cooking. Having the same DNA, how would you know which brother the killer is, and who is our 3rd person? Epigenetics offers many solutions to help identify suspects as well as victims. Fluid identification: Epigenetics can identify what type of fluid the DNA came from, such as blood, semen, vaginal, sweat, or saliva. Through examining the epigenetic methylation profiles, we can tell that much of the DNA from the knife came from male sweat, which we would expect on the kitchen kni...