James A. Swenberg, PhD, DVM, a UNC Lineberger member and Kenan Distinguished Professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, was a co-author on a study published in the journal Nature. Led by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine Department of Genetics and Yale Stem Cell Center, the study identified a new form of DNA modification in mouse embryonic stem cells. Previously, it had been widely accepted that 5-methylcytosine was the only form of DNA methylation in mammalian genomes. The researchers identified N6-methyladenine as another form of DNA modification.
The study’s senior author, Andrew Xiao, PhD, an assistant professor in the Yale School of Medicine Department of Genetics, received his doctoral degree at UNC-Chapel Hill.
To read the full study, click here. To read by a story by YaleNews about the findings, click, here.