# BioMutation: a portable graphical user interface for mutagenesis and feature analysis in proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes

## TL;DR

BioMutation is a user-friendly tool for performing mutagenesis and analyzing features in proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes using a graphical interface.

## Contribution

BioMutation introduces a GUI for high-throughput mutagenesis and feature analysis in biomolecules with automation and integration of ChimeraX and Google Colab.

## Key findings

- BioMutation enables batch-wise mutagenesis in proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes using a GUI.
- The tool generates mutated structures in standard formats for downstream computational studies.
- A Structure Analyzer module allows comparative assessment of physicochemical features pre- and post-mutation.

## Abstract

Protein and nucleic acid mutational studies are central to understanding biomolecular structure, function, and interactions, yet existing computational tools often lack user-friendly interfaces for high-throughput and systematic mutagenesis. To address this limitation, we present BioMutation, a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables automated, batch-wise introduction of substitution-based mutations in proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes facilitated via UCSF ChimeraX functionalities. BioMutation supports user-defined and class-wise amino acid substitutions in proteins, as well as user-specified and combinatorial substitutions in DNA and RNA. The tool automatically generates libraries of mutated structures in standard formats (PDB, MOL2, and mmCIF) suitable for downstream computational studies, including molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. In addition, BioMutation includes a Google Colab–based Structure Analyzer module for comparative assessment of physicochemical features before and after mutation. By integrating automation, flexibility, and accessibility within a single platform, BioMutation facilitates efficient in silico mutagenesis for applications in structural biology, biomolecular engineering, and drug discovery. The GUI is freely available at https://github.com/Computational-biolab/BioMutation.

BioMutation GUI workflow diagram showing a main interface with options to start mutation or analyze structure, leading to two modules: one for inducing and saving DNA, RNA, or protein mutations, and one for feature analysis and visualization of mutated structures.