With BioAutoMATED, now every biologist can use machine learning

Scientists generate massive amounts of data today, thanks to the falling costs of sequencing technology and the increasing amount of available computing power. But parsing through large volumes of data to uncover useful information is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Machine learning (ML) and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools can dramatically speed up the process of data analysis, but most ML tools are difficult for non-ML experts to access and use. Researchers at the MIT Jameel Clinic, the epicentre of health care and AI at MIT, have designed a comprehensive automated ML (AutoML) platform for biologists with little to no ML experience. The platform, called BioAutoMATED, can use sequences of nucleic acids, peptides, or glycans as input data, and its performance is comparable to other AutoML platforms while requiring minimal user input. The platform is described in a new paper co-authored by Jim Collins, Jameel Clinic's life sciences faculty lead, and is available to download from GitHub.