DNA Master is a genome annotation and exploration tool designed and written by Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence, of the University of Pittsburgh. This is a stand-alone tool, and can be dowloaded here.

DNA Master requires a Windows operating system. If you use a Mac or other type of operating system, DNA Master can be installed and run on an emulator (like Virtual Box) with a Windows virtual machine (we recommend purchasing a copy of—or license for—Windows XP).

PC Minimum Requirements

Windows XP or Windows Vista or Windows 7

Dual-core processor, 1.8 GHz

1 GB RAM (if using XP)

2 GB RAM (if using Vista/Windows 7)

128 MB video memory

5 GB free hard-drive space

DVD drive

Internet connection

FULL ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS*

Mac Minimum Requirements (using Windows virtual machine)

Mac OS X 10.5 or higher

Dual-core processor, 1.8 GHz (Intel-based Macs ONLY)

2 GB RAM

128 MB video memory

25 GB free hard-drive space

DVD drive

Internet connection

FULL ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS*

* In many cases, problems have been caused by permissions settings that limit DNA Master's abilities. To avoid these common issues, make sure you run DNA Master as an administrator. Our install guide has instructions on how to create a Desktop shortcut that will always execute DNA Master as an administrator.

Follow the appropriate instructions in the Installation Guide on our Documents page.

Once DNA Master is installed, you can follow the instructions in the Quick Start Guide on our Documents page to perform and explore a draft annotation. All you need is a genome sequence (in fasta format) to use as input. You can use your own, download one from any sequenced phage's page on this site, or try out our synthetic practice genome Etude.

NOW AVAILABLE! The complete annotation guide is available from our Documents page.

In the works...

Check out our DNA Master FAQ/Troublshooting page. DNA Master also comes with help documentation.