Concept Evolution

Epigenetic Clock Predicts Aging Rates of Racial Groups and Gender

A study published in Genome Biology in August 2016 supplies the first analysis of the epigenetic clock across different racial groups. By analyzing blood, saliva, and brain samples, epigenetic aging r…

The Circadian Rhythm: What Artificial Light is Doing to Your Body

Long-term exposure to artificial light weakens the body’s 24-hour circadian rhythm, says a new study published in Current Biology in July 2016 by Eliane A. Lucassen et al. In addition to disr…

Glial Cells: How Learning and Memory May Be Preserved in the Brain

Learning and memory are acquired in the brain by long-term synaptic potentiation, a process consisting of consecutive, long-lasting increases in synaptic strength. Usually, this process results…

NASA: Climate Change Trends Break Records On Rising Temperature

This September 13, 2016 the United Kingdom experienced the hottest day of the year with temperatures reaching 34.4C (93.9F). The BBC reported the temperature was recorded in Gravesend, Kent a…

Epigenetic Drift in Human Skin Predicts Age with High Accuracy

According to a new study published in Aging Cell in August 2016, methylation changes in skin DNA can be used to accurately predict age. Aging is a complex phenomenon, and scientists can now ide…

Down the Rabbit Hole, The Failures from the Linear Model of Science

“The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself f…

Socioeconomic. Socioeconomic status and Epigenetics

Epigenetic Study Finds Socioeconomic Status Influences Brain Function

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry in May, “Poverty linked to epigenetic changes and mental illness“, reports that children who grew up in poverty are more likely to develop depressi…

Mapping Histone Deacetylase Reveals Healthy Neuroepigenetic Baseline

The human genome is never stagnant. Like checks and balances, internal regulation mechanisms constantly tweak gene expression levels to ensure that bodily function does not go awry. Deviation f…

Self-Report Data by 23andMe, Reveals that Major Depression May Have Genetic Basis

It is easier to target a known physiological phenomenon than an emotional state with uncertain biological ties. While conventional treatments for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) focus on promot…

What Scientific Maturity Can Tell You About New Scientific Fields

Recent technological advances and moves toward hyper-specialization have led to the emergence of several new scientific fields and sub-fields. As these nascent fields have developed, they have been su…

Mitochondrial Competition Can Defy Natural Selection With Selfish Drive

May the best man win. Darwin’s principle of natural selection dictates that organisms with advantageous adaptations will trump those of lesser stock. The unusual inheritance pattern of mitoch…

What Exactly Does It Mean for Science to be Wrong?

We are living in an age of unparalleled scientific progress. Granted, much of the progress is in hyper-specialized subfields, but nevertheless the way in which we view particular scientific discipline…

Histone Acetylation, Parkinson’s-Parkinson’s-Disease

Histone Acetylation Changes May Contribute to Parkinson’s

The origin of Parkinson’s disease is frustratingly vague, an ambiguous cocktail of biological and environmental puzzle pieces which defies any simple fix. In a May 2016 study, a team of scientists …

AAV Vector carrying APOE2 Allele Reduces Amyloid Buildup in the Brains of Alzheimer’s Mice

Which one of these is not like the others: heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza/pneumonia, nephritis, and sui…

Research Shows How Cardiac miRNA Expression Can Be Effected by a Western Diet

Is obesity caused by what you eat or what you inherit? In a March 2016 study published in Taylor & Francis Group, “Nutrition has a pervasive impact on cardiac microRNA expression in isoge…