Though each method interrogates a different fraction of CpG sites and cell lines compared with tumours, 16 of the top 38 genes selected by Bisulfite-Tag were also identified among those genes showing significantly differential methylation between CRC cell line DNA and wbc DNA in the SuBLiME data (Additional file 2: Tables S5 and S6); this included two genes, IRX1 and ZNF471 ranked within the top 50 by both methods. Here, IRX1 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.