Apple II PASCAL programs for molecular biologists

Abstract

A collection of PASCAL programs designed for the Apple II microcomputer is presented. These DNA sequence handling and analysis programs are interactive and may be used even by people with no computer experience. The package allows the user to enter a sequence from the keyboard, to modify it, to generate the reverse complement, to create new sequences from parts of other ones, to display or print sequences in various formats. Some analysis tasks are also performed: Translation, searches for restriction sites, for homology with subsequences, either perfect or with an adjustable match percentage. In addition, two programs are also included: The first one allows DNA data sequences generated with a BASIC program under the CP/M operating system to be used with these PASCAL programs. The second one is designed for the automatic assembly of DNA fragments sequences, obtained with the GILBERT-MAXAM or M13 techniques, into a complete sequence.