drbob@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Robert H. Woodman) (09/29/90)
My boss has asked me to find a new program for drawing and printing plasmids (at publication-quality print on a Hewlett-Packard DeskJet Plus or LaserJet II). He is dissatisfied with the two programs he presently uses and wants new programs. His main gripes are (1) that the programs are not easy to use; (2) that the programs require you to do a bit of guessing about where on a cir- cular plasmid map to place the restriction sites (he wants a program which will allow him to make the circular maps and either accurately place the sites on the map or tells him the correct number of degrees to go to place the site himself); and (3) the quality of the printed output is surprisingly poor, despite the fact that he uses either a DeskJet Plus or a LaserJet II. I desire any and all suggestions for programs. Naturally, shareware is most desired, but relatively reasonably-priced commercial software is also acceptable. The main thing is to get programs which do not contain those qualities about which he complains. Thank you for your help. Bob Woodman -=- ********************************************************************* *Bob Woodman * "A job not worth doing well is not * *INTERNET: woodman.1@osu.edu * worth doing."--Salvador Luria * *********************************************************************
mn5y@krebs.acc.Virginia.EDU (Mukund Nori) (10/17/90)
There are 2 programs that I know of, both commercial. A very simple one is
called "Plasmid". It can list upto 50 restriction sites and will put them
where they belong on a circular map. It will also mark off genes and other
markers, e.g. ori, on this map. The drawbacks are the limit on number of
sites and that it will only do circular maps. You must know ahead of time
the exact positions of these sites, and the total size of the plasmid, e.g.
total size 5637 bp; EcoRI at 57, PstI at 135, EcoRI at 457, etc. Each is
considered a site with a total of 50. It will use LPT1 only for dotmatrix
printers and can use COM1 for laser graphic printers. I believe it costs
not more than $50.00.
The second one which does a whole shebang of things, almost everything except
turn itself on and enter the data is from the company DNASTAR Inc. They are
located at 1228 South Park Street, Madison, WI 53715. Phone (608)258-7420
Fax (608)258-7439. They say they can customize their system for anyone.
The whole system costs about $1800.00 but will do all from sequence analysis
of nucleic acids and maps to protein analysis, structure, etc. Expensive,
and for those who do not have access to mainframe systems that can do this.
It is, I must say, easier than the mainframe programs.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
******************************************************************
___Raistlin___ Mukund Nori
Raistlin@Virginia.EDU mn5y@krebs.acc.Virginia.EDU
"VIOLENCE IS THE LAST RESORT OF THE INCOMPETENT" Asimov davison@menudo.uh.edu (Dan Davison) (10/19/90)
A free program, Plasmid Paint, is available for the IBM PC from the gene-server@bchs.uh.edu, as is much more free molecular biology software for the PC, Mac, Unix, and VMS. The get Plasmid Paint, send e-mail with the Subject: line: Subject: help dos index to gene-server@bchs.uh.edu (internet) or gene-server%bchs.uh.edu@CUNYVM (BITNET) I don't offhand remember the name of the plasmid paint file. There are instructions for downloading, uudecoding, and general help on the server also. dan davison maintainer of gene-server@bchs.uh.edu assistant professor department of biochemical and biophysical sciences -- dr. dan davison/dept. of biochemical and biophysical sciences/univ. of Houston/4800 Calhoun/Houston,TX 77054-5500/davison@uh.edu/DAVISON@UHOU "Comparing bad weather to rape: 'if it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it'" Clayton Williams, next Governor of Texas...and THIS is the kind of person and attitute most Texans find acceptable...in 1990...very sad. Disclaimer: As always, I speak only for myself, and, usually, only to myself.