Google unveils DeepSomatic AI to detect cancer mutations

Google has unveiled DeepSomatic AI tool to detect cancer-causing genetic mutations in a bid to revolutionize cancer detection and treatment.

Google Research in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz Genomics and Children’s Mercy has developed an open-source AI model which uses convolutional neural networks to identify somatic variants in cancer sequencing data.

The tool can also differentiate between inherited variants and acquired mutations by using these neural networks, thereby speeding up research timelines.

The most distinguished feature of DeepSomatic is its ability to tackle challenging genetic cases. As per findings published in Nature Biotechnology, the model can detect insertions and deletions mutations, which are hard to identify through conventional tools and methods.

Trained on the CASTLE dataset, the DeepSomatic AI tool has surpassed the existing tools by identifying 10 overlooked variants in pediatric leukemia samples and offering promising breakthroughs in aggressive brain tumors like glioblastoma.

"Cancer is fundamentally a genetic disease, and identifying the right mutations is critical for delivering precise treatments," Google researchers said.

Google is planning to release the DeepSomatic model and its high-quality training dataset under open-source licences, marking a milestone in AI-powered medical diagnostics.

The AI model aims to reshape cancer genetics and detection through global collaboration.