Epigenomics

7 October 2003

The Sanger Institute has established a Human Epigenome Project in collaboration with Berlin-based company Epigenomics. The project will identify and describe sites in the human genome at which cytosine (C) bases in DNA are modified by methylation. Changes in methylation patterns ('epigenetic' changes) are one way in which genes can be turned on or off.

DNA methylation is crucial to normal development, but methylation patterns are altered in many diseases, including some cancers and developmental disorders such as Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

Epigenomics will use its expertise in high-throughput methylation analysis, while the Sanger Institute will contribute high-throughput sequencing technology to the collaboration. The generated methylation data will then be integrated with the human genome sequence and publicly released onto the Internet. For each C in the human genome, the project will reveal whether or not it is usually methylated, the circumstances under which methylation is removed, and the biological impact of changes in methylation.

The new project, which is expected to be completed within five years, follows the successful completion of a pilot study funded by the European Union; the data from the pilot study have been released on the Human Epigenome Project's website.

External links

• Human Epigenome Project
• Epigenomics (Company details)
• Human Epigenome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Further details)