#2 During her PhD, Catalina Salinas-Luypaert developed human cell models that allowed us to directly alter DNA methylation at centromeres and observe the consequences. We show that DNA methylation is critical to keep CENP-A correctly positioned and centromeres functioning. #3 Using DiMeLo-seq, Rosa Lee and Danilo Dubocanin from the Altemose team mapped CENP-A binding with high precision. They found that when DNA methylation is lost, CENP-A spreads to inappropriate regions, causing centromere alterations and chromosomal imbalances. #4 We show that loss of DNAme leads to disruption of the centromere’s bipartite structure and also controls the presence of another centromere-associated protein, CENP-B. Excessive CENP-B makes centromeric DNA more fragile and prone to breakage.