Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36289480›Full record

ArticleBMC bioinformatics2022

BoostMEC: predicting CRISPR-Cas9 cleavage efficiency through boosting models.

Oscar A Zarate, Yiben Yang, Xiaozhong Wang, Ji-Ping Wang

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC bioinformatics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. From Code to Life: The AI-Driven Revolution in Genome Editing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Oscar A ZarateDepartment of Statistics and Data Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
Yiben YangDepartment of Statistics and Data Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
Xiaozhong WangDepartment of Molecular BioSciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
Ji-Ping WangDepartment of Statistics and Data Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jzwang@northwestern.edu.
Northwestern University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn the CRISPR-Cas9 system, the efficiency of genetic modifications has been found to vary depending on the single guide RNA (sgRNA) used. A variety of sgRNA properties have been found to be predictive of CRISPR cleavage efficiency, including the position-specific sequence composition of sgRNAs, global sgRNA sequence properties, and thermodynamic features. While prevalent existing deep learning-based approaches provide competitive prediction accuracy, a more interpretable model is desirable to help understand how different features may contribute to CRISPR-Cas9 cleavage efficiency.

resultsWe propose a gradient boosting approach, utilizing LightGBM to develop an integrated tool, BoostMEC (Boosting Model for Efficient CRISPR), for the prediction of wild-type CRISPR-Cas9 editing efficiency. We benchmark BoostMEC against 10 popular models on 13 external datasets and show its competitive performance.

conclusionsBoostMEC can provide state-of-the-art predictions of CRISPR-Cas9 cleavage efficiency for sgRNA design and selection. Relying on direct and derived sequence features of sgRNA sequences and based on conventional machine learning, BoostMEC maintains an advantage over other state-of-the-art CRISPR efficiency prediction models that are based on deep learning through its ability to produce more interpretable feature insights and predictions.

Indexed as

CRISPR-Cas SystemsRNA, Small UntranslatedGene EditingMachine LearningRNA, Small UntranslatedCRISPR-Cas9Feature engineeringInterpretabilityLightGBMMachine learningRegression treessgRNA

Identifiers

PMID36289480
PMCPMC9597963
OpenAlexW4307561054

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.