BioAutoML-FAST: an automated machine-learning platform for reusable and benchmarked biological sequence models
The prediction of biological sequence properties has traditionally relied on alignment-based methods that assume evolutionary homology and depend on curated reference databases. This, in turn, limits scalability and sensitivity for large or heterogeneous datasets, remote homologs, short sequences, and rapidly evolving genomic regions. Although Machine-Learning (ML) approaches offer alignment-free alternatives, their broader adoption is limited by: (i) the lack of standardized, externally validated benchmark models across diverse datasets, and (ii) the technical expertise required for feature engineering, model selection, and evaluation. Automated machine learning (AutoML) alleviates these challenges by systematically optimizing representations and models with minimal user intervention. However, most existing frameworks prioritize task-specific model construction and lack mechanisms for preserving trained models as persistent, comparable benchmarks. We introduce BioAutoML-FAST, an end-to-end web platform for automated ML analysis of nucleotide and amino acid sequences. It supports both classification and regression tasks and automates feature extraction, model training, and evaluation without requiring prior user expertise. Uniquely, it serves as a community benchmarking resource, hosting a continuously expanding repository of reusable, standardized models (currently 60) for genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic applications. Extensive validation on independent datasets demonstrates performance comparable to or exceeding that of state-of-the-art methods, including protein language models such as ESM-2. BioAutoMLFAST is available at https://bioautoml.icmc.usp.br/. This website is free and open to all users, and there is no login requirement.