Title:Essential Non-coding Genes: A New Playground of Bioinformatics
Volume: 18
Issue: 2
Author(s): Ying-Ying Zhang and Pu-Feng Du*
Affiliation:
- College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China
Keywords:
Essential protein-coding genes, non-coding genes, CRISPR-Cas9, machine learning algorithms, bioinformatics, miRNAs.
Abstract: The essentiality of a gene can be defined at different levels and is context-dependent. Essential
protein-coding genes have been well studied. However, the essentiality of non-coding genes
is not well characterized. Although experimental technologies, like CRISPR-Cas9, can provide insights
into the essentiality of non-coding regions of the genome, scoring the essentiality of noncoding
genes in different contexts is still challenging. With machine learning algorithms, the essentiality
of protein-coding genes can be estimated well. But the development of these algorithms for
non-coding genes was very early. Based on several recent studies, we believe the essentiality of noncoding
genes will be a new and fertile ground in bioinformatics. We pointed out some possible research
topics in this perspective article.