rewirebio.iobenchmarks
Contested result

DNABERT and RNA-MSM: Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications reverses the order

  • Low severity
  • Not yet reviewed
  • Ordering reversal
  • Different tasks across studies

Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications ranks DNABERT above RNA-MSM in 4 of 4 comparisons; other studies rank RNA-MSM above DNABERT in 8 of 8.

An automatic lead, not a finding of error. The results below are shown as published, everywhere on the site, until a reviewer decides otherwise.

Which studies agree

Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language… ranks RNA-MSM above DNABERT in all 8 of its comparisons. Benchmarking pre-trained genomic… ranks DNABERT above RNA-MSM in all 4 comparisons that are not ties (8 are ties).

Papers grouped by which system they rank higher: RNA-MSM or DNABERTRank RNA-MSM higher: Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language…. Rank DNABERT higher: Benchmarking pre-trained genomic… (disagrees). Mixed: none.Rank RNA-MSM higherMixedRank DNABERT higherZero-shot benchmarkingof RNA language…Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningBenchmarkingpre-trained genomic…Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications
  • Rank RNA-MSM higher (1): Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language…
  • Rank DNABERT higher (1): Benchmarking pre-trained genomic… (disagrees)
  • Mixed (0): none

Each paper sits where at least two thirds of its comparisons point; Mixed means neither model reaches two thirds. The larger, outlined dot is the paper that disagrees.

Comparisons in which each paper scores RNA-MSM or DNABERT higherBenchmarking pre-trained genomic… (disagrees): RNA-MSM higher in 0, DNABERT higher in 4, 8 ties. Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language…: RNA-MSM higher in 8, DNABERT higher in 0, 0 ties.Disagrees: Benchmarking pre-trained genomic…Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications8 tie84 DNABERT higher4Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language…Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learning8 RNA-MSM higher8
RNA-MSM higherTieDNABERT higherNumbers are counts of comparisons; the outlined bar is the paper that disagrees.
Papers compared (2)
PaperRoleRanks RNA-MSM higherRanks DNABERT higherTies
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications and 1 more record · DOIDisagrees048
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learning and 1 more record · DOIAgrees800
Comparisons in Benchmarking pre-trained genomic… (12)
ProtocolDatasetMetricRNA-MSMDNABERTHigher
NT-splice-sites-acceptors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, acceptorsAccuracy (NT-splice-sites-acceptors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9780.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-acceptors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, acceptorsF1 (NT-splice-sites-acceptors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9780.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-acceptors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, acceptorsPrecision (NT-splice-sites-acceptors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9780.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-acceptors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, acceptorsRecall (NT-splice-sites-acceptors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9780.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-all splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, all sitesAccuracy (NT-splice-sites-all, fine-tuned), fraction0.9790.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-all splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, all sitesF1 (NT-splice-sites-all, fine-tuned), fraction0.9790.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-all splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, all sitesPrecision (NT-splice-sites-all, fine-tuned), fraction0.9790.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-all splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, all sitesRecall (NT-splice-sites-all, fine-tuned), fraction0.9790.983Tie
NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, donorsAccuracy (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9740.985DNABERT
NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, donorsF1 (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9740.985DNABERT
NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, donorsPrecision (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9740.985DNABERT
NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Nucleotide Transformer benchmark splice-site dataset, donorsRecall (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned), fraction0.9740.985DNABERT
Comparisons in Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language… (8)
ProtocolDatasetMetricRNA-MSMDNABERTHigher
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (mean over structures)TS test set (70 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)F1 (attention; mean over structures), unitless0.5820.017RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (median over structures)TS test set (70 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)F1 (attention; median over structures), unitless0.6310.01RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, MCC (mean over structures)TS test set (70 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)MCC (attention; mean over structures), unitless0.5880.001RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, MCC (median over structures)TS test set (70 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)MCC (attention; median over structures), unitless0.6340.003RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (mean over structures)TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)F1 (attention; mean over structures), unitless0.6450.011RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (median over structures)TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)F1 (attention; median over structures), unitless0.6790.011RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, MCC (mean over structures)TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)MCC (attention; mean over structures), unitless0.654-0.002RNA-MSM
Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, MCC (median over structures)TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures) (Wang et al. 2026)MCC (attention; median over structures), unitless0.690.003RNA-MSM

What disagrees

Other studies
rank RNA-MSM above DNABERT in 8 of 8 comparisons
This study
ranks DNABERT above RNA-MSM in 4 of 4 comparisons
Compared
DNABERT, RNA-MSM
Study that disagrees
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications, You et al. 2026, Supplementary Information
Other studies
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learning, Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information
Rule
Ordering reversal; different tasks across studies
Model identity
Matched across studies partly through links not yet reviewed

The compared numbers

Each value links to its result record and source. Compare values within one protocol; the rule compares rankings, not raw values across protocols.

In the study that disagrees (8)
StudyToolProtocol or benchmarkMetricValue
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationDNABERT fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Accuracy (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9851(0.0007)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationDNABERT fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)F1 (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9851(0.0007)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationDNABERT fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Precision (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9851(0.0007)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationDNABERT fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Recall (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9851(0.0007)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationRNAMSM fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Accuracy (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9735(0.0005)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationRNAMSM fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)F1 (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9735(0.0005)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationRNAMSM fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Precision (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9735(0.0005)
Benchmarking pre-trained genomic language models for RNA sequence-related predictive applications; You et al. 2026, Supplementary InformationRNAMSM fine-tuned with an appended convolutional layer (You et al. 2026)NT-splice-sites-donors splice-site classification, fine-tuned models (You et al. 2026 Supplementary Table 4)Recall (NT-splice-sites-donors, fine-tuned)0.9735(0.0005)
In the other studies (16)
StudyToolProtocol or benchmarkMetricValue
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (mean over structures)F1 (attention; mean over structures)0.017±0.021
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (median over structures)F1 (attention; median over structures)0.01
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, MCC (mean over structures)MCC (attention; mean over structures)0.001±0.024
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, MCC (median over structures)MCC (attention; median over structures)0.003
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (mean over structures)F1 (attention; mean over structures)0.011±0.011
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (median over structures)F1 (attention; median over structures)0.011
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, MCC (mean over structures)MCC (attention; mean over structures)-0.002±0.018
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningDNABERT (k=6) (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, MCC (median over structures)MCC (attention; median over structures)0.003
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (mean over structures)F1 (attention; mean over structures)0.582±0.217
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (median over structures)F1 (attention; median over structures)0.631
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, MCC (mean over structures)MCC (attention; mean over structures)0.588±0.217
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS test set (70 PDB structures), attention, MCC (median over structures)MCC (attention; median over structures)0.634
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (mean over structures)F1 (attention; mean over structures)0.645±0.136
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, F1 score (median over structures)F1 (attention; median over structures)0.679
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, MCC (mean over structures)MCC (attention; mean over structures)0.654±0.138
Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models: Supplementary Information; Zero-shot benchmarking of RNA language models in structural, functional, and evolutionary learningRNA-MSM (zero-shot, Wang et al. 2026)Wang et al. 2026 zero-shot secondary structure, TS-Hard test set (15 PDB structures), attention, MCC (median over structures)MCC (attention; median over structures)0.69

Follow-up

Current state: Not yet reviewed.

No one has reviewed this finding yet.

How to help resolve this

If you know why these studies disagree, for example a different population, metric or preprocessing step, or you have a corrected value, tell us through the contribution form. A reviewer checks every submission against its source before anything changes, and the step is added to the follow-up above.

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