Data management in a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis laboratory: "gelscript 1" software.
We have developed a software package "gelscript 1", to perform data operations in a laboratory that runs and analyzes a large number of two-dimensional (2-D) gels. This system is managed automatically by the "4th Dimension" relational database on a Macintosh platform. A guiding principle in the development of "gelscript 1" was that any piece of information is entered into the system only once, and is retrieved, copied, inserted or checked whenever required. In addition to saving labor, this principle ensures consistency and integrity of the database. The system always "knows" how many gels were run from any one sample, how long the films were exposed or were supposed to be exposed. It keeps track of data throughout all operations, warns of improper sample assignments, and prints labels for films, samples, protocols, etc. The software can be adapted to other applications, in which many samples are processed and where cross-referencing is needed.
Rovensky
P
P
Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland.
Lefkovits
I
I
D016208:Databases, Factual; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D012984:Software