Epigenetics and methylation analysis
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Directly detect DNA and RNA methylation
Epigenetics is crucial for regulating gene expression and is linked to various diseases, including cancer. Legacy sequencing methods require PCR, which often removes base modifications and involves complex library preparation steps that damage nucleic acids. However, Oxford Nanopore sequencing preserves these modifications and directly sequences them without extra steps, providing a simple workflow for epigenetic research. Long-range epigenetic modifications, structural variants (SVs), single nucleotide variants (SNVs), and repeats can be identified and phased — in one go. Furthermore, open chromatin regions and base modifications can also be detected.
Using Oxford Nanopore sequencing, researchers have directly identified DNA and RNA base modifications at single-nucleotide resolution, including m6A in RNA, and 5mC, 5hmC, and 6mA in DNA, and generated comprehensive methylome profiling of all 28 million CpG sites in the human genome. Oxford Nanopore technology generates reads of unrestricted length, which preserves the methylation context over large genomic distances and on individual DNA strands. This is particularly useful for identifying differentially methylated regions (DMRs), allowing an overarching view of methylation patterns across entire complex regions.
Featured content
A guide to investigating methylation in the human genome
With Oxford Nanopore sequencing, it is possible to prepare and sequence native DNA, enabling the direct methylation analysis alongside the nucleotide sequence, without additional library preparation steps. This guide provides a complete introduction to the direct sequencing of DNA methylation in human genomes.
Calling methylation and genomic variants in the human genome
In this best-practice workflow, discover how PCR-free nanopore sequencing enables detection of both 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) methylation alongside SNVs, SVs, and STRs in a single streamlined assay.
Direct DNA and RNA sequencing for methylation analysis with Oxford Nanopore sequencing
Recommended device for epigenetics and methylation analysis
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PromethION 24
Combining up to 24 independently addressable, high-capacity flow cells with powerful, integrated compute, PromethION 24 delivers flexible, on-demand access to terabases of ultra-rich sequencing data — ideal for comprehensive epigenomic analysis across large numbers of samples.
