AI tool Helixer revolutionizes gene annotation
Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf have developed the Helixer tool. The special feature: It determines genes directly from DNA sequences, without laboratory experiments or prior knowledge of the organism. The process of structural gene annotation is thus simplified and accelerated.
The AI recognizes features such as start and stop signals, untranslated areas, coding DNA sequences, and introns. Helixer is the first AI tool that reliably annotates genes in organisms ranging from plants and fungi to insects and vertebrates. It almost achieves the quality of manually curated reference annotations and outperforms established tools in vertebrates as well as plants through deep learning approaches.
The concept dates back to 2020 and has been further developed into a practical tool. The results were published as a preprint on bioRxiv and now in Nature Methods. Helixer is used in projects ranging from crops to insects. Future expansions are planned.
Applications include agriculture, environmental protection, and biotechnology. The tool complements existing methods and provides new insights even for well-researched species.
Original Paper:
Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR
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