In a new publication in "ACS Chemical Biology", we describe the development of novel inhibitors for the Dnmt3a DNA methyltransferase. In collaboration with the group of Dr. Arimondo in Paris, we used a novel medium-throughput non-radioactive screen on a random collection of 1120 small organic compounds and describe several hits, which were characterized with respect to specificity, inhibition constant and mechanism of inhibtion. Globally, the tested molecules showed a clear preference for the inhibition of DNA methyltransferases, but poor selectivity among them. Two molecules, including Dichlone, efficiently reactivated the expression of a methylated gene in a cell line by promoter demethylation. Their efficacy was comparable to 5-azacytidine, a well characterized DNMT inhibitor.