DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism, and its study is becoming increasingly popular in biological research. Methylation status is thought to play a role in aging, embryonic development, oncogenesis, and disease in general. Although there are a number of ways to characterize DNA methylation in a sample, bisulfite conversion of cytosine to uracile remains the most popular and most versatile method. Typically, it is also quite labor intensive. Methylation detection kits can streamline the process, simplifying DNA prep steps and shaving minutes or hours from the whole procedure. Many kits achieve nearly 100% conversion of unmethylated cytosines to uracil, for an extremely accurate result. High resolution melt analysis is another technology that can simplify methylation analysis. This process is a post-PCR method carried out in a closed tube that measures melting behavior of the sequences. Epigenetic changes, including methylation, can be inferred from the results. Whatever choice you ultimately make in methodology, the links on this page can help you find the right kit for your DNA methylation application.