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. Instructions and files for installation can be accessed from Section 2.5 of the Phage Genomics Guide.

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) within a Windows virtual machine. This guide can help you get your Mac set up with a Windows virtual machine. It may also be possible to run DNA Master using Wine or Whisky on some Mac operating systems.

PC Minimum Requirements

Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10

Dual-core processor, 1.8 GHz

2 GB RAM

128 MB video memory

5 GB or more free hard-drive space

Internet connection

Follow the appropriate instructions in this Installation Guide.

When needed, this forum post can help you get DNA Master updated and running on modern systems.

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.

We have an updated (as of 2025) Phage Genomics Guide. It is available at https://genomicsguide.seaphages.org/.

Check out the seaphages.org DNA Master forum or our DNA Master FAQ/Troublshooting page. DNA Master also comes with help documentation.