Summary of the science
Epigenetics refers to factors that change how the genetic information is read as a result of environmental and behavioural changes. Imagine you are reading a book and you spill water on the pages, so two pages are now stuck together - if you now had to miss out these pages, it would change the whole meaning of the chapter. Single cell multi omics analysis is a technique that allows scientists to study individual cells and their genetic, epigenetic, and protein characteristics simultaneously, providing detailed insights into development and ageing. Wolf Reik and his colleagues have used this experimental approach to look at various ways by which epigenetics is regulated and how changes to this regulation can impact an embryo during development.
About the research
The Wolf Reik Lab focuses on understanding epigenetic gene regulation in mammalian development and ageing. Among other things, they investigate epigenetic reprogramming during fertilisation and explore the connection to zygotic genome activation in early embryos, which refers to the stage when transcription suddenly begins. They also study the degradation of the epigenome during ageing and potential strategies to slow down or reverse this process.
New technologies for isolating and marking individual cells have changed our ability to study DNA, mRNA, and proteins at a single-cell level. Combining multiple omics analyses has provided a comprehensive view of cellular processes and single-cell multi-omics analysis has emerged as a powerful approach to investigate cell type-specific gene regulation. Using this approach, the Wolf Reik Lab have found that dynamic control of DNA methylation is linked to cell fate decisions in early embryogenesis.
About the illustration