At 9:32 PM 1/19/95 -0800, GEShafer at aol.com wrote:
>I am interested in getting DNA analysis software for restriction enzyme
>analysis, homology searching, PCR primers, etc.
>I've used MacVector in the past but have had DNASIS recomended to me.
>What do you think about various commercial & shareware options for this type
>of thing?
>Thanks
reply from C. Lawyer:
>> > I have a lot of experience with the DNAStar programs on CD Lasergene for
>> >macintosh & they are excellent. Very user friendly.
> I have used other programs including:
MacVector (less userfriendly and less powerful than DNAStar; missing many
capabilities of DNAStar does have subsequence search which DNAStar lacks;
development of any innovation or significant new capabilities essentially
ceased when the big company IBI/Kodak bought this program)
DNAsis (cumbersome less user friendly, missing some essential capabilities)
DNA Stridor (a toy)
Blast server (best of any for sequence homologies; has alu and promoter and
transcription factor databases; no multiple alignment or circular map or
shotgun seq alignment or protein analysis or abstract linkage; has no
ability to search with X unknown aa, or N any nt, in your query sequence)
entrez: super for abstracts and fast for homologies; cheap; unable to do
searching with your own query sequences
Geneworks (flawed, possibly because appears to have been designed by
programers, not biologists)
Oligo (good for primer design only)
Overall, none of the available sequence analysis programs is perfect and
what is needed is big dollar investment for evolution of truly good
computer tools. The sequence information being generated by the genome
project cannot be fully utilized for improving human health unless much
better user friendly and readily accessible (non-VAX requiring) programs
are developed.
consider subscribing to
Biotechnology Software Journal
Mary Ann Liebert Inc.
1651 Third Avenue
NY, NY 10128
