Bioinformatics sits at the exciting intersection where biology meets data science, using powerful computer tools to decode the vast complexity of living systems. From mapping the human genome to tracking how viruses evolve, this field transforms raw biological information into actionable insights that drive modern medicine and research forward without requiring a supercomputer to understand the basics.

On Gist.Science, we ensure you never miss a breakthrough by processing every new preprint in this category directly from bioRxiv. Our team provides both plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries for each paper, making cutting-edge discoveries accessible to everyone regardless of their background.

Below are the latest bioinformatics papers added from bioRxiv, ready for you to explore with clarity and depth.

💻 bioinformatics

Multistage Machine Learning Reveals Circadian Gene Programs and Supports a Retina-Choroid Axis in Myopia Development

This study utilizes multistage machine learning on chick models to identify a critical circadian window (ZT8–ZT12) that drives coordinated retina-choroid gene expression programs in myopia, revealing conserved molecular mechanisms that translate to complex human regulatory networks.

Watcharapalakorn, A., Poyomtip, T., Tawonkasiwattanakun, P., Dewi, P. K. K., Thomrongsuwannakij, T., Mahawan, T.2026-04-06
💻 bioinformatics

sctrial: Participant-Level Differential Analysis for Longitudinal Single-Cell Experiments

The paper introduces sctrial, an open-source Python framework that addresses the inferential challenges of longitudinal single-cell experiments by performing participant-level differential analysis to prevent pseudoreplication-driven false positives and ensure rigorous, reproducible biological interpretation across diverse clinical contexts.

Vasanthakumari, P., Valencia, I., Aghmiouni, M. R., Magana, B., Omar, M. N.2026-04-06
💻 bioinformatics

From nucleotides to semantics: genomic representation learning via joint-embedding predictive architecture

This paper introduces GenoJEPA, a genomic foundation model that leverages a joint-embedding predictive architecture to shift from computationally expensive nucleotide reconstruction to efficient semantic alignment in latent space, thereby achieving robust generalization across 55 downstream tasks with reduced parameters and enabling lightweight, GPU-free classification.

Wang, C., Qi, Q., Sun, H., Zhuang, Z., He, B., Liu, S., Liao, J., Wang, J.2026-04-06
💻 bioinformatics

Looplook: An integrative suite for target assignment and functional annotation of chromatin interactions empowered by expression-aware refinement and connected components clustering

Looplook is an open-source R package that integrates chromatin conformation data with transcriptomic information through connected components clustering and expression-aware refinement to accurately assign distal regulatory elements to target genes and reduce false positives in functional genomics.

Zhang, Y., Huang, X., Chen, Y., Xu, L.2026-04-06
💻 bioinformatics

Sequence-Driven Drug-Target Affinity Prediction Via Graph Attention Networks and Bidirectional Cross-Attention Fusion

XAttn-DTA is a sequence-driven framework that leverages Graph Attention Networks for drug encoding and ESM2-derived residue graphs for protein representation, fused via bidirectional cross-attention, to achieve state-of-the-art drug-target affinity prediction and superior generalization in cold-start scenarios without relying on experimental structural data.

Kudari, Z., Kaira, V. S., P, S. S., Bhat, R., Gnana Sekaran, J.2026-04-06
💻 bioinformatics

Widespread data leakage inflates accuracy and corrupts biomarker discovery in cancer drug response prediction

This paper demonstrates that a widespread practice of applying supervised feature screening before cross-validation causes severe data leakage in cancer drug response prediction, systematically inflating reported accuracy and corrupting biomarker discovery by introducing statistical artifacts that mimic biological signals.

Asiaee, A., Strauch, J., Azinfar, L., Pal, S., Pua, H. H., Long, J. P., Coombes, K. R.2026-04-05