Cancer/DNA methylation

Patent Granted DNA methylation is an important regulator of gene transcription and a large body of evidence has demonstrated that genes with high levels of 5-methylcytosine in their promoter region are transcriptionally silent, and that DNA methylation gradually accumulates upon long-term gene silencing. DNA methylation is essential during embryonic development, and in somatic cells, patterns of DNA methylation are generally transmitted to daughter cells with a high fidelity.