Paper alert! 💻 How many cells do you need to train reliable deep learning models in regulatory genomics? We asked how data quality, sequencing depth, and dataset size affect training of sequence-to-function models from scATAC-seq. Out now www.nature.com/articles/s41... (details below)

TF-MINDI is out! A new method to learn cis-regulatory codes through rich embeddings of TF binding sites. TF-MINDI decomposes motif neighbourhoods, and works downstream of any sequence-to-function deep learning model. We deeply study the enhancer code in human neural development, check out the thread

We are thrilled to share our new pre-print: “System-wide extraction of cis-regulatory rules from sequence-to-function models in human neural development”. S2F-deeplearning models can accurately encode enhancers, yet decoding these models into human-interpretable rules remains a major challenge.

1/ First preprint from @jdemeul.bsky.social lab 🥳! We present our new multi-modal single-cell long-read method SPLONGGET (Single-cell Profiling of LONG-read Genome, Epigenome, and Transcriptome)! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out our work on evaluating methods for predicting in vivo cell enhancer activity in the mouse cortex! Combined, scATAC peak specificity and sequence-based CREsted predictions gave the best predictive performance, aiming to advance genetic tool design for cell targeting in the brain.

One thousand candidate enhancers tested in vivo in the mouse brain! A massive resource and oh so useful as validation set for genome-wide enhancer prediction methods. Super fun to be involved in one of the papers: ‘the prediction challenge paper’ by Nelson&Niklas et al www.cell.com/cell-genomic...

Our preprint on designing and editing cis-regulatory elements using Ledidi is out! Ledidi turns *any* ML model (or set of models) into a designer of edits to DNA sequences that induce desired characteristics. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... GitHub: github.com/jmschrei/led...

Very proud of two new preprints from the lab: 1) CREsted: to train sequence-to-function deep learning models on scATAC-seq atlases, and use them to decipher enhancer logic and design synthetic enhancers. This has been a wonderful lab-wide collaborative effort. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our new preprint is out! We optimized our open-source platform, HyDrop (v2), for scATAC sequencing and generated new atlases for the mouse cortex and Drosophila embryo with 607k cells. Now, we can train sequence-to-function models on data generated with HyDrop v2! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We released our preprint on the CREsted package. CREsted allows for complete modeling of cell type-specific enhancer codes from scATAC-seq data. We demonstrate CREsted’s robust functionality in various species and tissues, and in vivo validate our findings: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

How does gene regulation shape brain evolution? Our new preprint dives into this question in the context of mammalian cerebellum development! rb.gy/dbcxjz Led by @ioansarr.bsky.social, @marisepp.bsky.social and @tyamadat.bsky.social, in collaboration with @steinaerts.bsky.social

📄 Update on our preprint about Gene Regulatory Net (GRN) benchmarking 📄 We have included the original and decoupled version of SCENIC+, added a new metric and two more databases. Dictys and SCENIC+ outperformed others, but still performed poorly in causal mechanistic tasks. doi.org/10.1101/2024... 👇

We wrote a review article on modelling and design of transcriptional enhancers using sequence-to-function models. From conventional machine learning methods to CNNs and using models as oracles/generative AI for synthetic enhancer design! @natrevbioeng.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s44...

The latest Discover ASAP episode dives into "Cell Type Directed Design of Synthetic Enhancers," a study published in Nature by CRN Team Voet. They discuss how machine learning enables precise enhancer design for targeted gene expression 🧬 Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcms...

KU Leuven turns 600(!) this year and is celebrating with a public event this weekend! The @steinaerts.bsky.social lab is offering guided lab tours. Want a behind-the-scenes look? All tours on Saturday are full, but you can still register for Sunday! www.kuleuven.be/600years/exp...

In a new study, Nikolai Hecker, Niklas Kempynck et al. in the team of @steinaerts.bsky.social explore 300 million years of brain evolution through the lens of enhancer codes. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This has been a fantastic adventure - to capture the genomic regulatory code underlying brain cell types (using deep learning models trained on chromatin accessibility), and then use these models to compare cell types between the bird and mammalian brain

Just very happy to have our paper out today! A big thanks to all our co-authors, and to Nikolai and @steinaerts.bsky.social for the teamwork over the past years. If you are interested in using our models for cross-species enhancer studies, check out crested.readthedocs.io/en/stable/mo... 🙂