BMB Section Seminar and UiO Life Science lunch: Epigenetics – nature vs nurture

What makes us us? Why do we react and process things differently, and how do things we experience shape us? And have you heard about the epigenetic clock that can predict your age? How does it work, and how can the epigenetic clock be used to study neuropsychiatric disorders?  Find out more about what happens to epigenetic marks in the initial stages of mouse development.

Programme   

    
12:00­–12:30 PM Life Science Lunch
Short introduction by Finn-Eirik Johansen, director of UiO:Life Science and head of the Department of Biosciences.

Epigenetics: nurture vs nature

Ellen Wikenius PhD student, the Institute of Clinical Medicine, the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Oslo
What makes us us? Why do we react and process things differently, and how do things we experience shape us? Ellen has made the video "Epigenetics: nurture vs nature" to make her research field more accessible. The video is part of her presentation. Read about the making of the video.

The epigenetic clock and mental health

Thomas Espeseth, Associate Professor, the Department of Psychology, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the University of Oslo
Have you heard about the epigenetic clock that can predict your age? How does it work, and how can the epigenetic clock be used to study neuropsychiatric disorders?          
 
12:30­–01:00 BMB Section seminar at the Department of Biosciences about epigenetics in the initial stages of mouse development

John Arne Dahl, Researcher, Oslo University Hospital
"Broad Histone Lysine Methylation Domains in Mouse Oocytes and Dynamic Regulation during Maternal to Zygotic Transition"                                                                               

The maternal to zygotic transition (MZT) involves the transfer of genome regulation from the oocyte to the embryo and is required for the formation of totipotent embryos. However, regulatory mechanisms of MZT are not well understood despite recent advancement in mapping the dynamics in RNA transcripts and DNA methylation in oocytes and embryos. Previous studies suggest that epigenetic histone modifications may play significant roles in MZT, however direct measurements of chromatin states has not been achievable due to technical difficulties in mapping histone modifications from small numbers of cells. To overcome this we developed a micro-scale chromatin immunoprecipitation and sequencing (μChIP-seq) method and used it to map modified histones in mouse oocytes and early embryos. Using this method we have uncovered a novel epigenetic landscape that is set-up in the oocyte, transferred to the embryo and restructured at the time of zygotic genome activation. We show that this epigenetic program plays important roles in MZT.

Note: The section seminar at the Section for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) at the Department of Biosciences will follow immediately after the Life Science Lunch. Both are open to everyone.
 
The Life Science Lunch will be videotaped.

Published May 1, 2016 7:01 PM - Last modified Aug. 11, 2022 12:46 AM