Predicting gene expression using millions of yeast promoters reveals cis-regulatory logic

bioRxiv – January 25, 2025

Source: medRxiv/bioRxiv/arXiv

Summary

Researchers have unlocked new insights into gene regulation by analyzing millions of yeast promoters. Using advanced deep learning techniques, they successfully predicted gene expression patterns, revealing the intricate logic behind how transcription factors interact. This breakthrough enhances our understanding of genetic control mechanisms.

Abstract

Motivation Gene regulation involves complex interactions between multiple transcription factors. While early attempts to train deep neural networks to predict gene expression were limited to naturally occurring promoter sequences, the advent of gigantic parallel reporter assays has expanded available training data by orders of magnitude. Despite these advances, a clear understanding of how to use deep learning to study gene regulation is still lacking.