The Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip's unique combination of comprehensive, expert-selected coverage, high sample throughput, and affordable price make it an ideal solution for epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS).

Powered by Illumina's revolutionary Infinium Methylation Assay, this BeadChip allows researchers to interrogate > 485,000 methylation sites per sample at single-nucleotide resolution. Content was selected with the guidance of a consortium of methylation experts comprising 22 members that represent 19 institutions worldwide. It covers 99% of RefSeq genes, with an average of 17 CpG sites per gene region distributed across the promoter, 5'UTR, first exon, gene body, and 3'UTR. It covers 96% of CpG islands, with additional coverage in island shores and the regions flanking them. Further content categories requested by the Consortium include:

• CpG sites outside of CpG islands
• Non-CpG methylated sites identified in human stem cells
• Differentially methylated sites identified in tumor versus normal (multiple forms of cancer) and across several tissue types
• CpG islands outside of coding regions
• miRNA promoter regions

This BeadChip includes > 90% of the content contained on the HumanMethylation27 BeadChip. Its 12-sample per array format is compatible with automation, enabling up to 96 samples to be run in parallel (with full LIMS support available) and requiring only 500 ng of input (1 µg with automation). A protocol enabling compatibility with FFPE samples is now also available. This unique combination of features makes the HumanMethylation450 BeadChip a powerful tool to drive exciting new study designs and further fuel the rapid evolution of epigenetics research.