Google DeepMind Open-Sources AlphaGenome for DNA Research
Making frontier AI tools free for researchers could accelerate understanding of genetic disease and drug development.
From API to Open Code
On January 28, 2026, Google DeepMind released the source code and model weights for AlphaGenome, an AI system that predicts the function of DNA sequences. The model had been available through an API since June 2025, but the release now allows researchers to run it on their own infrastructure.
According to DeepMind, more than 3,000 scientists from 160 countries have used the API, processing about 1 million requests daily. The open-source release removes access barriers and makes it easier for labs with limited budgets to experiment with the model.
What AlphaGenome Predicts
AlphaGenome analyzes DNA sequences up to 1 million base pairs long and predicts properties like gene expression, DNA accessibility, and where proteins bind. About 98 percent of the human genome is non-coding DNA that regulates genes rather than producing proteins directly.
The model outperformed competing tools across 25 of 26 internal benchmarks, and it runs on a single H100 GPU. Researchers have used it to identify mutations in cancer genomes that drive tumor growth, study neurodegenerative disorders, and explore infectious diseases.
Building on AlphaFold
AlphaGenome follows DeepMind's AlphaFold, which predicts protein structures and earned its creators half of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It complements AlphaMissense, which focuses on the 2 percent of the genome that codes for proteins.
The timing matters. Labs need tools that help make sense of genome-wide association studies and pinpoint which DNA variants cause disease. Publishing the model in Nature alongside the code release signals that DeepMind sees this as research infrastructure, not a proprietary product.