"Discovery In C. difficile Biology Opens New Window To Developing Treatments For Dangerous Infections"
A process called sporulation that helps the dangerous bacterium Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) to survive inhospitable conditions and spread is regulated by epigenetics, factors that affect gene expression beyond the DNA genetic code, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai report. "We wanted to study beyond the genetic code of the bacteria and look at what chemical modifications were being made to the genome," said senior author Gang Fang, PhD, associate professor of genetics and genomic sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Fang added, “This is just the beginning of our understanding of epigenetic regulation in bacteria; there are still so many questions yet to be answered. We hope this exciting discovery will encourage further interdisciplinary collaborations to investigate epigenetics of bacteria and how we can use these new insights to develop life-saving treatments for infection.”
— Gang Fang, PhD, Associate Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Additional coverage: Biocompare; Technology Networks; Phys.Org; Science Codex