Ai Designs Synthetic Dna to Control Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells

A recent study marks the first reported instance of generative AI designing synthetic molecules. These molecules can successfully control gene expression in healthy mammalian cells. The authors asked the AI to design synthetic fragments which activate a gene coding for a fluorescent protein in some cells. The AI would leave gene expression patterns unaltered. They created the fragments from scratch and dropped them into mouse blood cells. There, the sequence fused with the genome at random locations. The experiments worked exactly as predicted. This paves the way for new strategies to give instructions to a cell and guide how they develop and behave with unprecedented accuracy. "The potential applications are vast. It's like writing software but for biology, giving us new ways of giving instructions to a cell and guiding how they develop and behave with unprecedented accuracy," says Dr. Robert Fromel. The study could lead to new ways for gene-therapy developers to boost or dampen the activity of genes only in the cells or tissues that need adjusting. AI-generated enhancers can help engineer ultra-selective switches that nature has not yet invented. They can be designed to have exactly the on/off patterns required in specific types of cells. This level of fine-tuning is crucial for creating therapies that avoid unintended effects in healthy cells. "To create a language model for biology, you have to understand the language cells speak. We set out to decipher these grammar rules for enhancers so that we can create entirely new words and sentences," explains Dr. Lars Velten.