James T. Kadonaga

“More globally, this work is a step forward in the combined use of laboratory experiments and AI to decipher the information that is embedded in the sequence of the DNA bases in humans,”

James T. Kadonaga · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-23

Kadonaga described the study as a step forward in combining laboratory experiments with AI to decipher information embedded in human DNA.

“These AI models were found to provide, for the first time, strong predictions of the presence or absence of the initiator in human genes, and were thus able to decode the DNA base sequence pattern of the initiator,”

James T. Kadonaga · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-23

Kadonaga commented on the AI model's ability to predict the presence or absence of the initiator in human genes.

“Ultimately, within the six billion bases of DNA in each of our cells, there is a gene expression code that specifies when, where and to what extent each of our genes should be turned on or off. If we had an AI model for the entire gene expression code, we would be able to predict the activity of each of the different variants of genes in different people. The new AI model for the initiator is a small but important part of this gene expression code, and I am optimistic that we will expand our AI models of the human gene expression code in the not-too-distant future.”

James T. Kadonaga · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-23

Kadonaga discussed the broader goal of decoding the gene expression code that controls when and where human genes are turned on or off.