Profluent, an AI-powered protein design company, has leveraged artificial intelligence to design an open-source gene editor called OpenCRISPR-1, demonstrating that the technology can be used to create molecules with the ability to edit human DNA. I have proven it.
Developed more than a decade ago, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromicrepeats (CRISPR) technology allows scientists to precisely alter DNA sequences in living organisms.
Potential applications range from treating genetic diseases to studying disease mechanisms.
In contrast to previous technologies in gene editing, such as CRISPR-Cas9, the molecules the company designs are completely synthetic and do not exist in nature.
The company is open sourcing OpenCRISPR-1 for free ethical research and commercial use. published Learn the science behind protein development in our preprint publication.
”„Using an AI-designed biological system to edit human DNA was a scientific breakthrough,“ said Ali Madani, co-founder and CEO of Profluent. statement. “Our success points to a future where AI designs exactly what is needed to create a variety of tailored treatments for diseases.”
why is this important
AI is at the heart of this achievement, with the company training a large-scale language model (LLM) based on large-scale sequences and biological context.
The Profluent team developed a database of 5.1 million Cas9-like proteins, and an AI model was trained on this database to create proteins that could potentially be used in CRISPR.
This allows LLM to create new gene editors from scratch that learn from examples found in nature.
After narrowing down their results, they identified a protein, OpenCRISPR-1, that performs a similar function to Cas9, but with far fewer effects on off-target sites. This increases accuracy and minimizes damage to DNA.
The goal of open sourcing OpenCRISPR-1 is to promote the use of AI in ethical research and commercial applications, particularly in the development of CRISPR-based medicines.
„In doing so, we believe we can accelerate the pace of discovery and innovation in this field,“ Madani said. “Our vision is to use AI to enable us to design new drugs precisely for our needs, beyond the constraints of what biology can achieve in nature.”
He added that the company intends to partner with leading research institutions and drug developers working across the drug development lifecycle to make CRISPR medicines available to more patients and more diseases. Ta.
bigger trends
Gene editing technologies such as SHERLOCK and DETECTR are Transforming digital diagnosticsenabling rapid detection of infectious diseases such as the new coronavirus infection.
Companies like Atomwise, Deep Genomics, and Valo are revolutionizing treatment development by incorporating gene editing into the drug discovery process.
AI is powering everything beyond gene editing. bone marrow analysis software to drug discovery and supporting platforms Matching the right cancer drug to the patient.