title: T.I.M.S: TaqMan Information Management System, tools to organize data flow in a genotyping laboratory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping is a major activity in biomedical research. The Taqman technology is one of the most commonly used approaches. It produces large amounts of data that are difficult to process by hand. Laboratories not equipped with a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) need tools to organize the data flow.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We propose a package of Visual Basic programs focused on sample management and on the parsing of input and output TaqMan files. The code is written in Visual Basic, embedded in the Microsoft Office package, and it allows anyone to have access to those tools, without any programming skills and with basic computer requirements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have created useful tools focused on management of TaqMan genotyping data, a critical issue in genotyping laboratories without a more sophisticated and expensive system, such as a LIMS.
authors.affiliation: International Agency for Research on Cancer, F-69372, Lyon, France. monnier@iarc.fr
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monnier
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Albion
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Canzian
mesh_terms: D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005838:Genotype; D019451:Information Management / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011381:Programming Languages; D012984:Software; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface