Alexander Meissner

Alexander Meissner generated comprehensive DNA methylation maps across human cell types and cancers, revealing that cancer-specific methylation patterns are partially inherited through cell division as epigenetic memory that maintains tumor cell identity and therapy resistance. His development of reduced representation bisulfite sequencing enabled cost-effective genome-wide methylation profiling that identified cancer-specific methylation signatures preserved through epigenetic memory mechanisms. His work on epigenetic reprogramming barriers during iPSC generation revealed how aberrant epigenetic memory in cancer cells resists therapeutic reprogramming toward normal differentiation states.