small size, BIG IMPACT
Today I want to briefly discuss microRNAs. Despite these molecules only being ~18-22 nucleotides in length, this RNA species is a rockstar in biology. They put on a big show in the cell, and fans [...]
It’s a big, big world for non-coding RNAs
My past two blogs explored the broad topics of gene expression and epigenetics. Oh boy, our cells’ genetic complexity skyrockets after considering the role epigenetics has in biology. This [...]
DNA Methylation – A Primer
In my last blog I began a discussion on the many different DNA and RNA modifications that can modulate gene expression as part of a complex system. Over the next few blog posts I will be [...]
DNA, blueprints, and modulators
We were taught in grade school that DNA is the blueprint of life. Indeed, the perception in popular culture is that if we read our genetic code, we can foretell our future and understand what [...]
Blackholes, widgets, and RNA-seq
I recently made the switch from a post doctoral position at Washington University in Saint Louis to the wet lab here at Cofactor Genomics (most people at Cofactor have a WashU connection!) But [...]
Isolating Cells of Interest From Tissue: A Primer
In my last post, I discussed the advantages of RNA-seq for characterizing conditional knock out mice. The question arises for this experiment and most other biological studies: how do we isolate [...]
Can RNA-seq help with your knockout blues?
Wow, you just generated a conditional knock-out mouse! A huge feat, and now you need to validate your model before characterization and testing your hypothesis. We’ve all heard it before, what [...]
Mass Spectrometry vs. RNA-seq
If you visited our office, you would quickly discover that we frequently discuss how next-gen sequencing (and specifically RNA-seq) fits in to the larger research puzzle. It’s such a [...]
