Rapid customization of base editors via machine learning-powered combinatorial mutagenesis

Being able to control the complementarity and hindrance between target DNA and base editor proteins enables precise, bystander-free editing. Here, we combined combinatorial mutagenesis with machine learning to analyze and engineer these interactions at scale. By profiling DNA motif preferences across 160,000 evoAPOBEC1 and 64 million TadA variants in human cells, we used as little as 0.004% of the mutational landscape to make predictions. This identified variants with motif-specific activity and eliminated residual adenine editing in cytosine base editors. In correcting >800 disease-associated mutations, our variants outperformed previous versions in precluding unintended edits at purine motifs, achieving undetectable bystander edits in 50% of cases. Additionally, a pre-trained, structure-based deep learning model predicted functional TadA variants with 63% success across 20²⁶ variants spanning 26 amino acid sites, without experimental data and in a single prediction round. These approaches streamline the re-engineering of base editors for enhanced precision tailored to specific targets.