Benefits of Methylation Analysis
DNA methylation analysis can help researchers gain valuable insight into gene regulation and identify potential biomarkers. Aberrant DNA methylation has been implicated in many disease processes, including cancer, obesity, and addiction. DNA methylation is also a common subject of agrigenomic investigations into responses to drought, temperature extremes, and other environmental changes.
High-throughput technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and microarrays enable genome-wide methylation profiling studies. These technologies offer new ways to understand the significance of DNA methylation, providing novel insights into the functional consequences of variation.
Key DNA Methylation Analysis Methods
Methylation Sequencing with NGSNGS enables comprehensive profiling of methylation patterns at single-base resolution across the whole genome, or in targeted epigenetic regions of interest. |
Methylation MicroarraysArrays enable quantitative interrogation of selected methylation sites across the genome, offering high-throughput capabilities that minimize the cost per sample. |
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| Most important to me | Comprehensive methylome coverage | High throughput (large sample numbers) |
| Least important to me | Throughput | Coverage |
| #CpGs covered | ~36 million CpGs (whole genome) ~3.3. million CpGs (targeted) |
~850,000 CpGs |
| Species | All (whole genome) Human (targeted) |
Human |
| Learn More About Methylation Sequencing | Learn More About Methylation Arrays |
Sequencing Method Explorer
Use this interactive tool to explore experimental next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation methods compiled from the scientific literature.
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Featured Methylation Profiling Research
Epigenetic Patterns of Exercise
Methylation analysis and RNA-Seq help researchers understand how endurance training makes epigenetic changes to the human genome.
Read InterviewEpigenetic Contributions to Addiction
Targeted methylation sequencing identifies epigenetic signatures that correlate with brain image scans of substance abusers.
Read InterviewRelated Solutions
Epigenetic Changes in Cancer
Studies of epigenetic alterations in cancer, such as aberrant methylation and transcription factor binding, can provide insight into important tumorigenic pathways. Learn more about cancer epigenetics research.
Methylation Profiling for Complex Disease
Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis can help researchers understand the functional mechanisms at work in complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or asthma. Learn more about complex disease research.
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Additional Resources
Field Guide to Methylation Methods
An overview of the impact of cytosine methylation and the primary methods used to detect cytosine modifications.
When Whole-Genome Sequencing Is Not Enough
Researchers explore cancer subtypes using Illumina technology for whole-exome, whole-genome, and whole-epigenome sequencing.
Epigenome Roadmap
A collection of research papers that systematically characterize epigenomic landscapes in primary human tissues and cells.
Epigenome Blueprint
A consortium generating 100 reference epigenomes to understand gene activation and repression in healthy and diseased human cells.
Targeted Methylation Analysis
TruSeq Methyl Capture EPIC rapidly produces target enrichment-based bisulfite sequencing libraries from human DNA samples.
Methylation and Metastasis
Researchers investigate the epigenetics behind cancer metastasis using DNA methylation microarrays and NGS.