Dr. Baylin's research has contributed heavily to the concept that epigenetically-mediated loss of gene function is a major player in the progression of human cancer. The focus of the Baylin laboratory is to understand the mechanisms, at the level of chromatin assembly, underlying the appearance of the aberrant gene promoter hypermethylation in cancer and how this change participates in the associated aberrant loss of gene transcription. The lab also concentrates on identifying new genes in cancer involved with this epigenetic silencing and in defining the function, with respect to participation in tumor progression, of a selection of these newly-defined genes.