/channels/taxonomy/term/4516/all en /channels/channels/news/how-sperm-remember-329649 <p>It has long been understood that a parent’s DNA is the principal determinant of health and disease in offspring. Yet inheritance via DNA is only part of the story; a father’s lifestyle such as diet, being overweight and stress levels have been linked to health consequences for his offspring. This occurs through the epigenome - heritable biochemical marks associated with the DNA and proteins that bind it. But how the information is transmitted at fertilization along with the exact mechanisms and molecules in sperm that are involved in this process has been unclear until now.</p> Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:23:23 +0000 webfull 169040 at /channels /channels/channels/news/beyond-pap-smear-320398 <p style="text-align:center"><strong>����ֱ�� researchers identify new markers for early detection of cervical cancer</strong></p> <p style="text-align:center"> </p> <p><em>By Ashley Rabinovitch</em></p> Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:49:21 +0000 webfull 158711 at /channels /channels/channels/news/when-treating-and-researching-infertility-lets-not-forget-men-289050 <p>By Vardit Ravitsky, Associate Professor of Bioethics at the University of Montreal and <strong>Sarah Kimmins</strong>, Associate Professor at ����ֱ�� and Canada Research Chair in Epigenetics, Reproduction and Development.</p> Mon, 27 Aug 2018 13:49:06 +0000 webfull 140253 at /channels /channels/channels/news/nurses-care-young-mothers-leaves-traces-babies-dna-286970 <div><span>Researchers have known for a couple of decades that early life adversity can affect the way that particular genes function through a process called epigenetics - a bit like a dimmer switch on a light, pushing gene activity up or down. What they haven’t been able to show until now is that POSITIVE early life experiences can have a similar effect, and that these effects can be seen over thirty years later.  </span></div> <div> </div> Tue, 01 May 2018 19:24:33 +0000 webfull 137741 at /channels /channels/channels/news/epigenetic-alteration-vitamin-b12-processing-gene-shines-new-light-our-understanding-rare-diseases-284319 <p>Rare hereditary recessive diseases were thought to be expressed in offspring only when both parents carry a mutation in the causal gene, but a new study is changing this paradigm. An international research team led by scientists at the University of Lorraine in France along with ����ֱ�� and the Research Institute of the ����ֱ�� Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Canada discovered a new cause of a rare condition known as<em> cblC</em>, that they named “epi-<em>cblC</em>”. They reported it in patients from Europe and the United States.</p> Tue, 30 Jan 2018 19:16:43 +0000 webfull 134593 at /channels /channels/news/epigenetic-study-tabs-genes-linked-allergies-asthma-242501 <p>Researchers from Canada, the UK, Sweden and the US have discovered more than 30 genes that strongly affect an antibody involved in allergies and asthma. Some of the genes could provide targets for drugs to treat those conditions, according to the international team’s study, published online in <i>Nature </i>on Feb. 18. Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:42:50 +0000 webfull 108238 at /channels /channels/news/how-do-environments-talk-genes-219723 <p><span>A report elucidates the widely recognized, but poorly understood, concept of gene-environment interaction, finding a molecular mechanism in the case of post-traumatic stress disorder: demethylation of a glucocorticoid response element in the stress response regulator FKBP5 that depends on both the risk allele and childhood trauma. [Review on epigenetics and childhood trauma by ����ֱ��'s Moshe Szyf.]</span></p> <p><span>Read more at <em><a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v16/n1/full/nn.3286.html" target="_blank">Nature Neuroscience</a></em></span></p> Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:45:23 +0000 webfull 89517 at /channels /channels/news/international-human-epigenome-consortium-studies-mark-major-step-����ֱ��-epigenetics-research-264204 <p><span>One of the great mysteries in biology is how the many different cell types that make up our bodies are derived from a single cell and from one DNA sequence, or genome. We have learned a lot from studying the human genome, but have only partially unveiled the processes underlying cell determination. The identity of each cell type is largely defined by an instructive layer of molecular annotations on top of the genome – the epigenome – which acts as a blueprint unique to each cell type and developmental stage.</span></p> Thu, 17 Nov 2016 17:25:07 +0000 webfull 123062 at /channels /channels/news/brain-development-controlled-epigenetic-factor-243393 <p style="text-align:left" align="center">����ֱ�� researchers have discovered, for the first time, the importance of a key epigenetic regulator in the development of the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with learning, memory and neural stem cells. Epigenetic regulators change the way specific genes function without altering their DNA sequence. By working with mutant mice as models, the research team, led by Prof. Xiang-Jiao Yang, of ����ֱ��’s Goodman Cancer Center & Department of Medicine, ����ֱ�� Health Center, was able to link the importance of a specific epigenetic regulator known as BRPF1 to the healthy development of a region in the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus. Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:30:40 +0000 webfull 108672 at /channels /channels/news/chronic-pain-alters-dna-marking-brain-225012 <div><span><span><span>Injuries that result in chronic pain, such as limb injuries, and those unrelated to the brain are associated with epigenetic changes in the brain which persist months after the injury, according to researchers at ����ֱ��. Epigenetics explores how the environment – including diet, exposure to contaminants and social conditions such as poverty – can have a long-term impact on the activity of our genes. Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:25:08 +0000 webfull 94752 at /channels /channels/news/surprise-advance-treatment-adult-cancers-265057 <p>A team of researchers at the Research Institute of the ����ֱ�� Health Centre (RI-MUHC) has found an epigenetic modification that might be the cause of 15% of adult cancers of the throat linked to alcohol and tobacco use. This is a first in the field of epigenetics and the researchers are hopeful that the discovery can blaze a path in the development of new, targeted, more effective treatments that could arise over the next few years.</p> Wed, 11 Jan 2017 17:52:57 +0000 webfull 124039 at /channels /channels/news/honey-i-shrunk-ants-how-environment-controls-size-243448 <p>Until now scientists have believed that the variations in traits such as our height, skin colour, tendency to gain weight or not, intelligence, tendency to develop certain diseases, etc., all of them traits that exist along a continuum, were a result of both genetic and environmental factors. But they didn’t know how exactly these things worked together. By studying ants, ����ֱ�� researchers have identified a key mechanism by which environmental (or epigenetic) factors influence the expression of all of these traits, (along with many more). Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:05:19 +0000 webfull 108724 at /channels /channels/news/mcgill-discovery-should-save-wheat-farmers-millions-231037 Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:21:36 +0000 webfull 99274 at /channels /channels/news/article-dr-michael-meaneys-lab-featured-sciencedaily-218515 <p>From the lab of CIFAR Fellow Michael Meaney (����ֱ��): Scientists have provided evidence that socioeconomic status affects family function and the development and function of brain regions that are critical for attention, learning and memory. Meaney's lab looks into how parenting produces lasting effects on cognitive and emotional development. His lab examined development in rats and found parental influences on the chemical, or 'epigenetic', signals that control the activity in the brain of genes that influence the connections between brain cells as well as learning and memory.</p> Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:46:32 +0000 webfull 87703 at /channels /channels/news/fathers-lasting-influence-molecular-foundations-intergenerational-transmission-paternal-environment-247887 <h5>Laval and ����ֱ�� researchers team up with Health Canada and international researchers from Africa, Italy, Copenhagen and Greenland to investigate the impact of environmental exposures on the hertibale information coded in the fathers sperm and the health of offspring.  The research team includes Professor Sarah Kimmins of the Department of Animal Science and is funded for $1.5 million by the Institute of Aboriginal Health, and the Institute of Gender and Health.</h5> Wed, 22 Apr 2015 18:02:49 +0000 webfull 109570 at /channels