A pioneering Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered model able to understand the sequences and structure patterns that make up the genetic “language” of plants, has been launched by a research collaboration. 

Plant RNA-FM, believed to be the first AI model of its kind, has been developed by a collaboration between plant researchers at the John Innes Centre and computer scientists at the University of Exeter. 

The model, say its creators, is a smart technological breakthrough that can drive discovery and innovation in plant science and potentially across the study of invertebrates and bacteria. 

RNA, like its better-known chemical relative DNA, is an important molecule throughout all organisms, responsible for carrying genetic information in its sequences and structures. In the genome RNA architecture is made up of combinations of building blocks called nucleotides, which are arranged in patterns in the same way that the alphabet combines to make words and phrases in language.  

Professor Yiliang Ding’s group at the John Innes Centre studies RNA structure, one of the key languages in RNA molecules where RNAs can fold into complex structures that regulate sophisticated biological functions such as plant growth and stress response.  

To better understand the complex language of RNA in its functions, Professor Ding’s group collaborated with Dr Ke Li’s group in the University of Exeter.  

Source: John Innes Centre

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