FRIDAY, 02/16/18
AI & BIOINFORMATICS
WHY USE AI IN BIOLOGY?
▸ The field of biology is still growing, and scientists are
trying to learn more about genetics and disease.
▸ Research in fields such as medicine and genetics involves
a lot of data
▸ There is too much information for humans to analyze
on their own.
▸ AI is good at analyzing and learning from large amounts of
data
▸ AI’s are able to find accurate trends and patterns, as
well as predict results.
BIOINFORMATICS
‣ Interdisciplinary field
‣ Computer science
‣ Biology
‣ Mathematics
‣ Used in
‣ Genetics and genomics
‣ Molecular biology
GENETICS AND MEDICINE
▸ Human genome is comprised of 3
billion base pairs
▸ DNA is subject to mutations, which
can cause diseases, such as:
▸ Cancer
▸ Sickle Cell Anemia
▸ Cystic Fibrosis
▸ Scientists are now using AI to
detect these diseases, improve
medicine, and find cures by
analyzing gene expressions.
TECHNIQUE
▸ Training Set
▸ Test Set
▸ Algorithms
▸ SVM
▸ KNN
CRISPR
▸ What is it?
▸ Is a gene editing technology that cuts and alters DNA at
a specific section of a gene
▸ Applications
▸ Recently, it was used to identify HPV and Zika
▸ Can potentially be used to combat cancer, HIV, and ALS
▸ Can be used to edit diseases out of human embryos
▸ A problem scientists face is the effect an alteration on one
section will have on other genes.
HOW AI HELPS WITH CRISPR
▸ In the past, scientists would have had to run experiments
testing all possible cuts.
▸ This is costly and time-consuming.
▸ Instead, with AI and machine learning, they can run an
algorithm on CRISPR data to find a computational model
▸ This tells them which sites CRISPR would have the
most beneficial effect on.
LINKS
▸ https://blogs.microsoft.com/ai/crispr-gene-editing/
▸ https://cspo.org/where-genome-editing-and-artificial-
intelligence-collide/
▸ https://singularityhub.com/2018/02/15/the-power-to-
upgrade-our-biology-and-the-ethics-of-human-
enhancement/#sm.0019a6tdjg04e3311491wmvfjcnkg
▸ https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/15/crispr-detect-
hpv-and-zika/