Loading ...xTAG Software (formerly TagIT) is back!
Many of the FlexMAP (now called xTAG) microsphere users relied on the TagIT software to help choose which microsphere sets to use in genetic detection assays run on the xMAP platform. When the TagIT software was removed these users no longer had a reliable way to design their assays. Well the good news is that TagIT is back!
Hitachi Software is now hosting the TagIT software which has been renamed xTAG software. The xTAG software is part of a free web based suite of sequence analysis tools built around an electronic notebook called DNASIS SmartNote. The SmartNote tool takes the best of the free bioinformatics tools on the web and puts them together in one environment. SmartNote also offers some of the new “Web 2.0″ social networking features to allow easier collaboration and information sharing among colleagues.
How to use the xTAG Software in SmartNote:
- Create a free DNASIS SmartNote account.
- Upload the oligos in your assay. SmartNote offers several options from grabbing fasta files on your computer to copying and pasting the sequences.
- Select the sequences and click the analyze button. At this point you will see all of the bioinformatics tools SmartNote has available. Select the xTAG software. (Please note there that there is a 50 bp size limit on the sequences that you submit for analysis)
After you submit your query the software will begin the design process. You will be notified instantly in your message log (upper right corner of the page) when your results are ready. Most analyses are finished within 5 minutes. Here is an example of a results page in SmartNote. You will notice that you have the option of opening the results in an Excel file (csv) for easy viewing.
As of July 1st, 2008 you will be able to order the xTAG microspheres online from Hitachi Software. The final step is to send the probe-tag sequences to your favorite oligo synthesis company.
Add A Comment