Pigs provide relevant biomedical models to dissect complex diseases due to their anatomical, genetic, and physiological similarities with humans. Aberrant DNA methylation has been linked to many of these diseases and is associated with gene expression. However, the functional similarities and differences between porcine and human DNA methylation patterns are largely unknown.
An article recently published in BMC Genomics highlights a study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois demonstrating that baseline methylation and gene transcription profiles for a healthy adult pig contain similar patterns to those observed in humans, and supports future porcine studies related to human disease and development.