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Regulation of gene expression is fundamental to health, development and disease. It involves very controlled temporal and spatial orchestration, i.e. certain sets of genes in specific cells are either expressed or repressed at precise times. Its dysregulation causes various diseases. Gene expression is majorly impacted by biological processes associated with chromatin which is the complex organization of DNA and proteins found in eukaryotic nuclei. Gene expression is additionally controlled by chemical modifications of DNA like methylation. The above processes regulate gene expression without changing the underlying DNA sequence. They are collectively referred to as epigenetics. Non-coding RNA and prions also contribute to epigenetic regulations at the levels of RNA and proteins, respectively. Epigenetic phenomena are heritable and regulate all eukaryotes from microbes to large animals and plants. Hence, epigenetics is crucial for therapeutic developments, future progenies, agricultural, ecological and environmental benefits. Some therapies based on epigenetics are approved by the US FDA and many clinical trials are ongoing. This seminar features cutting-edge epigenetics-NGS methods designed for discovery as well as targeted/mechanistic analysis. It will familiarize you with applications like ATAC-Seq, ChIP-Seq, CUT&Tag, CUT&RUN, spike-in, single-cell multiome, bioinformatics, cell-free DNA methylation, upcoming methodologies, and their selection during project design. |