[go: up one dir, main page]
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

AI-designed DNA sequences regulate cell-type-specific gene expression

Researchers have used artificial-intelligence models to create regulatory DNA sequences that drive gene expression in specific cell types. Such synthetic sequences could be used to target gene therapies to particular cell populations.
  1. Andreas R. Pfenning

    1. Andreas R. Pfenning is in the Computational Biology Department and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

Different parts of a cell’s genome can be active or inactive depending on the cell’s function in the body, and whether it is in a disease state. The instructions for activating or repressing a gene are encoded in the genome, and each type of cell has its own genomic ‘language’ that is based on highly complex patterns of nucleotides that describe whether a gene will be expressed. Writing in Nature, Gosai et al.1 apply artificial intelligence (AI) methods to learn the ‘regulatory grammar’ of that language — that is, the patterns of nucleotides in the genome that relate to gene-regulatory activity — for different cell types. The authors then apply those models, along with experimental genomics techniques, to create synthetic DNA sequences that can drive gene expression in specific cell types, which has implications for targeted cell and gene therapy.

Access options

Access through your institution

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 634, 1059-1061 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03170-2

References

  1. Gosai, S. J. et al. Nature 634, 1211–1220 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Melnikov, A. et al. Nature Biotechnol. 30, 271–277 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Siraj, L. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.05.592437 (2024).

  4. Zhou, J. & Troyanskaya, O. G. Nature Methods 12, 931–934 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. de Almeida, B. P. et al. Nature 626, 207–211 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Taskiran, I. I. et al. Nature 626, 212–220 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Ruffolo, J. A. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.22.590591 (2024).

  8. Xiong, W. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 5785–5794 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Lawler, A. J. et al. eLife 11, e69571 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Fornes, O. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 51, W379–W386 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

A.R.P. is the founder of Snail Biosciences and inventor of US Patent App. 17/619,783 (2022).

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Research Associate (Postdoc)

    registration number: ZE-0098-synmikro-wmz-2024 Entry date: as soon as possible Application deadline: 2024-11-14 Salary: E 13 TV-H Duration: 31.07.2...

    35037 Marburg, Hessen (DE)

    Philipps-Universität Marburg

  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Medicinal Chemistry for Cancer Drug Discovery

    Postdoctoral position in medicinal chemistry to develop small molecule inhibitors for targeted therapies in cancer.

    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

    University of Michigan - Department of Pathology

  • Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine Seeking High-level Talents

    Full Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor

    Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

    Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine (ISM)

  • Assistant Professor

    Faculty positions at the Assistant Professor level in Cancer, Cardiovascular, Metabolic Health, Brain, Mind, and Behavior.

    Chicago, Illinois

    Northwestern University Recruitment to Transform Under-Representation and achieve Equity – an NIH FIRST Award

  • Instructional Faculty Positions

    The Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), a globally ...

    Saudi Arabia (SA)

    King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links