The Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute at Mississippi State recently acquired a software suite that will facilitate biotechnology research.

The Lasergene software applications developed by DNASTAR Inc. have been distributed to departmental offices and will be available to students and faculty who have access to the MSU web site, http://www.msstate.edu.

The new software provides researchers working in the field of biotechnology with sequence analysis tools in an easy-to-use format for both Windows and Macintosh users. Sequence analysis capabilities for the software include DNA and protein sequence alignment, protein structure prediction and gene mapping, all important elements in biotechnology research.

"Lasergene software currently sets the standard in biotechnology for DNA, RNA and protein sequence analyses," said LSBI director H. Alan Wood. "The programs available in this software suite provide easy interpretation and analysis of sequence data through many useful graphical displays."

In addition, the programs have full Internet search capabilities for importing and exporting different sequence file types.

"The programs will support biotechnology efforts of MSU researchers throughout the university," Wood said. "Lasergene version 5 is the most up-to-date and extensive software of its kind."

For additional information about the Lasergene software, contact Jeanne Whitehead at 325-9208.