A new deep-learning AI model may help scientists better decipher the plot of the genetic instruction book and learn how typos alter the story.
AlphaGenome, created by Google DeepMind, is the latest in an ever-improving line of AI models built to analyze vast stretches of DNA. The previous front-runner, a model called Borzoi, could predict molecular signposts in stretches of DNA 500,000 bases long. AlphaGenome can analyze 1 million DNA building blocks at a time, researchers report January 28 in Nature. The model may have practical implications for diagnosing rare genetic diseases, identifying cancer-driving mutations, designing synthetic DNA sequences or therapeutic RNAs and better understanding basic biology.