A New Edge in Bisulfite Conversion

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Aberrant methylation events have significant impacts in terms of incidence of cancer and development disregulation. Researchers studying DNA methylation are often working with DNA from “difficult” tissues such as formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissues, which characteristically yield DNA that is more fragmented than that purified from fresh tissue. Traditional methods for bisulfite conversion involve a long protocol, harsh chemicals, and generally yield highly fragmented DNA. The DNA fragmentation may significantly impact the utility of the converted DNA in downstream applications such as bisulfite-specific PCR or bisulfite sequencing.

An ideal bisulfite conversion system enables complete conversion of a DNA sample in a short period of time, provides high yield of DNA, minimally fragments the DNA, works on a wide range of input DNA amounts (from a wide variety of sample types), and, while we’re at it, is easy to use and to store. Whew! That’s quite the list.

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Bisulfite Conversion and Next Gen Sequencing

WebinarsIn my last entry, I gave a little summary of one of many techniques that are used to study DNA methylation patterns in a loci-specific fashion using the COBRA technique. This time, we’ll take a look at a high-throughput, genome-wide method for analyzing DNA methylation status using a next generation sequencing approache called bisulfite sequencing, or Bis-Seq. Continue reading “Bisulfite Conversion and Next Gen Sequencing”