stemceller's Journal: New method for reading DNA sheds light on cell identity

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard report new findings about about how a cell chooses its identity: "As a fertilized egg develops into a full grown adult, mammalian cells make many crucial decisions -- closing doors of opportunity as they adopt careers as liver cells, skin cells, or neurons. One of the most fundamental mysteries in biomedicine is how cells make such different career decisions despite having exactly the same DNA. By using a new kind of genomic technology, a new study unveils a special code -- not within DNA, but within the so-called "chromatin" proteins surrounding it -- that could unlock these mysterious choices underlying cell identity."