 DMPK alleles with greater than 37 repeats are unstable and additional trinucleotide repeats may be inserted during cell division in mitosis and meiosis.Consequently, the children of individuals with premutations or mutations inherit DMPK alleles which are longer than their parents and therefore are more likely to be affected or display an earlier onset and greater severity of the condition, a phenomenon known as anticipation.Repeat expansion is generally considered to be a consequence of the incorporation of additional bases as a result of strand slippage during either DNA replication or DNA repair synthesis.