BioArchitech
Design of Microarrays
What will be the
layout of the array? Where will the clones be spotted?
Why did we selected a specific gene? Where are the repetitions of a given clone? These are some of the
questions that are addressed by BioArchitech™.
BioArchitech.
The design of microarrays is a complex exercise. When several thousands of clones
have to be printed on a given microarray, it's quite a challenging task to know
where they will be spotted on the resulting chip. Clones are usually stored in microplates
before
being printed. Printing involves a large number of parameters (number of
pins, order and orientation of microplates, repetitions, ...) that are variable
and that can make it quite difficult to know where the clones will be on the chip.
Being able
to understand the general configuration of the array before creating BioArchitech™,
it is an absolute necessity. When analyzing the results of one
or several microarray experiment(s), knowing where the clones or the repetitions
are, is an absolute necessity. BioArchitech can it do all for
you in a quite easy
way.
Managing
microarray 
BioArchitech
integrates with most arraying machines (unforeseen
interfaces can easily be built, on request).
Setup can be imported
and exported from/to the arrayers, improving the productivity
of your teams.
BioArchitech offers
an interface that manages the microplate content.
Wells information
can be edited within the application or can be exported/imported
in different formats for those that would prefer to
perform modifications with external applications. Since some microplates can be
partly empty, BioArchitech has an option that allows users
to determine whether they intend to visualize "empty"
spots (resulting from empty wells) or not.
User friendliness
has guided our development efforts: as an example,
plate colors and order of appearance are managed in
a mouse click.
Define Array Parameters
Producing microarrays
requires a number of parameters and setup options
to be determined. They, indeed, influences, a great
deal, the layout of the array.
BioArchitech™
BioArchitech
deals with 384 and 96 wells plates.
The
orientation of the microplate and the direction of
the pumping in the microplate have to be determined.
Slide
parameters also have to be defined: the printable
area and its edge margins, the direction of printing
on the slide, and the rotation of the output when
reading it in the scanner.
The
number of pins is an important parameters to be fine-tuned.
Depending
on the pins number and on the spot mode, the spot
layout and replications can be defined.
Replications
can also be organized at Sub Grid level (group of
spots as defined by the spot layout) or at Super Grid
level (group of sub grids), depending on the config.
Interactive Output
The output, once
produced, offers a dynamic interface to view the layout
of the microarray.
A first screen
representing:
A second screen representing
the grid overall layout, with the description of the
selected spot. The description can be hidden, moved,
its font and color can be modified.
A third screen representing
a magnification of the microarray with zooming capabilities.
A search engine allows
also genes to be tracked and viewed instantly within
each of the screens.
Export Design
BioArchitech allows
the output to be exported under several formats. Users
will retrieve the standard ATF format (Axon Text File),
enabling them to export the output under a GAL format.
Other formats are
offered: tab delimited formatted files, XML for instance. Export to the clipboard is also possible. BioArchitech also allows
exporting the virtual picture of the array
image to a bitmap file.
Hardware Requirements:
The BioArchitech software is compatible with all MS-Windows
operating systems (95, 98, Me, NT 4.+, 2000, XP).
It will work fine on Pentium II or more with 64MB
RAM. Higher values would however be better. A very
good graphic card is needed.
Current Version #: 1.6.72
Demo Movie: Click Here
Download Demo Version: Click Here
Request Online Demo from us: Click Here
To do it, you will need a
Skype account and associated software (this is free for download at
Skype). You can then contact us via Skype.
Click here to do it now. The demo will be done via the
GoToMeeting
software (a remote desktop application that you do NOT need to download nor
buy). When the date and time of the meeting will be established, we'll invite you
for a free tour of the software. We'll be able to answer all your questions, live
!
Price in Euro (excluding local taxes): 500 Eur/licence