About The Gene Construction Kit: The Gene Construction Kitª allows graphic manipulation of DNA sequences and provides sophisticated plasmid drawing capabilities. It is ideal for planning and managing complex genetic engineering projects and for generating high quality illustrations. DNA sequences can be manipulated and represented either graphically or as text. Segments can be cut and pasted in either mode and displayed as linear or circular, with user definable thickness, pattern, direction and color. Cutting and pasting operations monitor staggered ends and will not allow incompatible ends to be joined. Restriction enzyme sites can be marked automatically and coding regions or other regions of interest indicated. Complete or partial digest gel electrophoresis patterns may be generated and viewed graphically or as a table. Zooming allows the construct to be viewed at any level of detail. The program keeps track of segment history and can display any generation for any segment. Different views of the construct (e.g. transcribed regions, restriction map, source of each DNA segment) can be stored with the construct itself and viewed when desired. Comments may be attached to any segment, site, region, or even the whole construct and then later searched, thereby providing a searchable electronic record of the construction. Multiple constructs, gels, or sequence listings can be displayed simultaneously in the same window and can be connected with arrows or lines. Text labels, rectangles, round rectangles, and ellipses can be added at any location in the illustration. This allows preparation of detailed and sophisticated illustrations for presentations. A sophisticated file searching module is available, enabling the Gene Construction Kit to function as a construct database. For more information about the Gene Construction Kit, contact: Textco, Inc. 27 Gilson Rd. West Lebanon, N.H. 03784 U.S.A. voice/FAX: (603) 643-1471 textco@valley.net