In the same study its meiotic partner, SPATA22, was also found to be aberrantly activated and co-expressed with MEIOB. Expression of MEIOB was also greatly enhanced in several lung cancer cell lines after treatment with the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine, known to induce the expression of certain meiotic genes by the demethylation of promoter CpG islands (De Smet et al., 1999). Here, MEIOB is linked to lung cancer.