Recent advances in the characterization of essential genes and development of a database of essential genes

Over the past few decades, there has been a significant interest in the study of essential genes, which are crucial for the survival of an organism under specific environmental conditions and thus have practical applications in the fields of synthetic biology and medicine. An increasing amount of experimental data on essential genes has been obtained with the continuous development of technological methods. Meanwhile, various computational prediction methods, related databases and web servers have emerged accordingly. To facilitate the study of essential genes, we have established a database of essential genes (DEG), which has become popular with continuous updates to facilitate essential gene feature analysis and prediction, drug and vaccine development, as well as artificial genome design and construction. In this article, we summarized the studies of essential genes, overviewed the relevant databases, and discussed their practical applications. Furthermore, we provided an overview of the main applications of DEG and conducted comprehensive analyses based on its latest version. However, it should be noted that the essential gene is a dynamic concept instead of a binary one, which presents both opportunities and challenges for their future development. Essential genes are indispensable for the survival and development of organisms, and have been successfully identified using various experimental methods across diverse organisms. DEG, a database of essential genes is dedicated to collecting experimental results on essential genes and has become one of the most commonly used tools for studying essential genes, where the information on essential genes for a specific species can be quickly accessed, with a broad range of applications, such as essential gene feature analysis and prediction, drug and vaccine design, as well as artificial genome design and construction. The definition of essential genes is environment-specific rather than simple binary, which should not be overlooked in the study of essential genes.image Essential genes are crucial for organism survival and development, which have been identified using various experimental methods across different organisms, providing valuable resources for studying their characteristics and developing predictive algorithms.The database of essential genes (DEG) collects experimental results on essential genes and serves as a widely used resource for studying them. It enables quick access to essential gene information for specific species and has applications in essential gene analysis, prediction, drug and vaccine design, and artificial genome construction.The definition of essential genes is context-dependent, not a simple binary classification. Integrating different experimental results of essential genes is challenging but offers opportunities to explore gene interaction mechanisms.