Leveraging genomic deep learning models for the prediction of noncoding variant effects

Characterizing noncoding variant function remains an important challenge in human genetics. Genomic deep learning models have emerged as a promising approach to enable in silico prediction of variant effects. These models include supervised sequence-to-activity models, which predict molecular phenotypes such as genome-wide chromatin states or gene expression levels directly from DNA sequence, and self-supervised genomic language models. Here we review progress in leveraging these models for noncoding variant effect prediction. We describe practical considerations for making such predictions and categorize the types of ground-truth data used to evaluate variant effect predictions, providing insight into the settings in which current models are most useful. Our Review highlights key considerations for practitioners and opportunities for improvement in model development and evaluation.