Why in News?

• Researchers at IIT Madras have developed an AI tool called NBDriver (neighbourhood driver) for use in analysing cancer-causing mutations in cells.

How does the technique work?

• NBDriver is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool developed to analyse cancer-causing mutations in cells.
  • A mutation is a change in a DNA sequence. Mutations can result from DNA copying mistakes made during cell division, exposure to ionizing radiation, exposure to chemicals called mutagens, or infection by viruses.
• By looking at the neighbourhood, or context, of a mutation in the genome, it can look at harmful “driver” mutations and distinguish them from neutral “passenger” mutations.
  • Mutations that provide a selective growth advantage and thus promote cancer development are termed driver mutations and those that do not are termed passenger mutations.

Significance of this tool

• The usual approach misses out on mutations- Researchers usually analyse DNA sequences from large groups of cancer patients by comparing sequences from cancer as well as normal cells and determine whether a particular mutation occurred more often in cancer cells than random. However, this approach often misses out on relatively rare driver mutations.

 Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/ai-tool-developed-to-study-cancer-causing-mutations/article35384379.ece