A number of people asked about software that allows viewing of ABI trace files
(chromatograms) on the Windows platform. There are quite many choices - some
programs allow viewing and printing only, others provide sophisticated tools
for contig assembly and proofreading. Some programs are free (and very good -
see BioEdit), other cost several thousands of dollars and are difficult to use,
or have a confusing interface resulting from porting from the Mac.
1. BioEdit - free Windows ABI trace viewer with a lot of interesting functions
(http://www.mbio.ncsu.edu/RNaseP/info/programs/BIOEDIT/bioedit.html). Try this
first.
2. ABIView - a free Windows viewer for ABI traces
(http://users.cloud9.net/~dhk/abiview.html)
3. Chromas - a shareware Windows trace viewing package for $50
(http://www.technelysium.com.au/chromas.html)
4. SeqMan II from the Lasergene package (http://www.dnastar.com/) - a good
program costing ony about 1/5 of the price of another contender - Sequencher
(http://www.genecodes.com/). I routinely use SeqMan II to view, print,
assemble, and proofread contigs from ABI traces.
Cheers,
John
