StarBlast

BLAST and Text Searching of Personal Databases

» Printable PDF overview for StarBlast

StarBlast simply lets you perform BLAST and text searches against your own databases. Create, store, and append new data to DNA and Protein databases on your own secure Windows machine with a few clicks of the mouse. In fact, it's so easy that no IT resources are required. Use a web browser* or a Lasergene module to easily query the databases you created. In addition, by relaxing your computer's security settings, you can share your StarBlast data with your collaborators by publishing your data on-line and allowing them to query the databases you built.

> A Sampling of StarBlast Uses

    Rapid screening of short-term databases:
  • Creating databases with StarBlast is so quick and easy that a user may want to build temporary collections of sequence data, perform a few BLAST and/or text searches, and then delete the database and start over with a different collection. Since no IT expertise is needed, StarBlast could supplement a large-scale permanent storage solution.
    Long term storage:
  • A single investigator may use StarBlast to store sequence files into easily accessible and changeable databases, then compare a newly discovered sequence to sequences already in the databases.
  • A single lab may want to store all of their available vectors in a database, so that at any time one of the researchers can locate a specific vector by keyword or by similarity and download the vector sequence.
    Collaborations:
  • StarBlast is ideal for scientists in different laboratories who are collaborating on research. The system can be configured such that labs in different geographic locations can all create, update, and delete databases on the Server whenever desired. Once a database is set up, the collaborators may perform BLAST searches against any of these databases from their own computers via Lasergene or an ordinary browser window.*
    Data Publishing:
  • A lab wants to publish their data on an Intranet or the Internet, allowing others to search the data for similarity.
    Portability:
  • Since StarBlast doesn't require any special hardware, a researcher who travels a great deal and doesn't always have access to his/her organization's network, can install StarBlast on a laptop. StarBlast can be configured such that one Windows machine can be used to for creation, management, storage and searching of the databases.

> StarBlast consists of 3 Major Parts

StarBlast Server

Creating databases with StarBlast is so quick and easy that a user may want to build temporary collections of sequence data, perform a few BLAST and/or text searches, and then delete the database and start over with a different collection. Since no IT expertise is needed, StarBlast could supplement a large-scale permanent storage solution.

StarBlast Manager

The StarBlast Manager allows you to easily create, append to, and delete databases on the StarBlast Server. You can use Fasta, GenBank, Lasergene DNA and Protein sequence files, to create databases. Single sequence files or a folder of files can be appended to existing databases at any time. The StarBlast Manager can be installed on any Macintosh OS X or Windows machine** as long as the machine has access* to the StarBlast Server. (No third-party relational database is required).

> Web Browser Search/Search from Lasergene*

Use your StarBlast Server's URL through a web browser or a Lasergene module to search the databases you created with the StarBlast Manager. The search pages will provide fields for input while other pages display the pending queue and the results.

If you have Lasergene, you can also perform BLAST and text searches to your StarBlast server (as well as to NCBI) by just adding the StarBlast server URL to the Preferences. The results will be returned to each Lasergene module the same way they are returned when you search against NCBI's databases or any other BLAST server's databases. The results returned to Lasergene can then be added to the project, opened in the editor, saved in batch or viewed in the web browser just like other BLAST and text searches.

*Internet or Intranet connection required for multiple machine set-up.
**See StarBlast hardware requirements.
Lasergene must be version 5.52 for Mac OS X or later or version 5.07 for Windows or later.

» Printable PDF overview for StarBlast