Shafaqna English- Researchers have used artificial intelligence to design thousands of new DNA switches that can precisely control the expression of a gene in different cell types.
What is special about these synthetically designed elements is that they show remarkable specificity to the target cell type they were designed for. This creates the opportunity for us to turn the expression of a gene up or down in just one tissue without affecting the rest of the body.
Using a form of artificial intelligence (AI) called deep learning, the group trained a model using hundreds of thousands of DNA sequences from the human genome that they measured in the laboratory for CRE activity in three types of cells: blood, liver and brain.
The AI model allowed the researchers to predict the activity for any sequence from the almost infinite number of possible combinations. By analyzing these predictions, the researchers discovered new patterns in the DNA, learning how the grammar of CRE sequences in the DNA impact how much RNA would be made — a proxy for how much a gene is activated
Source: sciencedaily