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The papers
M.W. Shen et al., “Predictable and precise template-free CRISPR editing of pathogenic variants,” Nature, 563:646–51, 2018.
F. Allen et al., “Predicting the mutations generated by repair of Cas9-induced double-strand breaks,” Nat Biotechnol, 37:64–72, 2019.
During gene editing with CRISPR technology, the Cas9 scissors that cut DNA home in on the right spot to snip with the help of guide RNA. The way the genetic material is stitched back together afterward isn’t terribly precise, though; in fact, scientists have long thought that without a template, the process is random. However, “there’s been anecdotal evidence that cells don’t repair DNA randomly,” geneticist Richard Sherwood of Brigham and Women’s Hospital tells The Scientist. A 2016 paper also suggested patterns in the repairs. Sherwood wondered if artificial intelligence could predict these outcomes.
In a study published last year in Nature, Sherwood and colleagues describe how they trained a ...
