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Gene Construction Kit - 3.0.3

(GCK) DNA design, manipulation & drawing.

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All Time:	(2.3)
This Version:	Not rated (0.0)
Current Version:	3.0.3
Release Date:	2009-10-04
License:	Update
Downloads (this version):	350
Downloads (all versions):	6,566

Information Related to Version:

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Product Description:

The Gene Construction Kit allows graphic manipulation of DNA sequences and sophisticated plasmid drawing options. It has an award winning interface design that allows graphic manipulation of DNA sequences in addition to providing sophisticated drawing capabilities for Mac and Windows users.

What's new in this version:

(W) Some functions send active window to the background
(M/W) page setup parameters are not being saved
(W) drag file to open doesn't work
(W) crash during export
(W) Windows Double-click to open files will not work if application already open
(M/W) Mark Sites doesn't remember previous settings
(M) Illustration - problems with enzyme cut site information display
(M/W) Three letter file extension displayed in construct title
(M/W) Deluxe Import - Pick a Width
(M/W) Deluxe Import - Size Arrowhead
(M/W) Conversion Defaults Panel - Deluxe Import; changed to allow very tall line widths and other features
(M/W) Search Files crashes application if 'Subdirectory' box is checked
(W) Get Info panel for enzyme sites shows wrong sequence
(M) Some GCK files cause app to crash under OS 10.5
(W) Conversion defaults panel font changes on Windows
(W) Incomplete error dialog text when creating introns over ORF start/stop
(M) Error code 30568, when trying to click in enzyme lists
(W) Fonts selector not correct in 'Default construct'

Operating System Requirements:

This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:

Mac OS X 10.5 Intel
Mac OS X 10.5 PPC
Mac OS X 10.4 Intel
Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
Mac OS X 10.3.9
Mac OS X 10.3
Mac OS X 10.2

Additional Requirements:

Feedback Summary:

This Version:
Overall Rating:	Not rated (0.0)	Features:	Not rated (0.0)	Support:	Not rated (0.0)
Ease of Use:	Not rated (0.0)	Quality / Stability:	Not rated (0.0)	Price:	Not rated (0.0)

Key to Types of Feedback:

Reviews Reviews Troubleshooting Usage Tips Developer Notes Commentary Featured Reviews

3.0 beta STILL not Universal Binary. - Version: 3.0b, 2/19/2008 12:00AM PST

(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)

Happy_Pig

Wow. I'd have thought that the LONG wait would have resulted in an Intel-native app.

Guess not.

overpriced, slow development but still worthwhile - Version: 2.5.11, 2/21/2005 11:10AM PST

(2 of 2 users found this comment useful)

jas0921

Let's start with the positive: its graphical user interface is relatively easy to use, if you compare with DNAstar, for example. It's representation of DNA, plasmids, etc. can be the sequence, which most biosoftwares do well, but also cartoon-like, which is GCK forte. DNAstar again is lacking a good plasmid view, although it might come in one of the next versions.

Now for the downside. There are a lot of basic features that are lacking (see missing feature list below) and the price is royal. DNAstar is no cheaper. But there's a lot of great freeware out there, PubMed/NCBI is getting bigger by the day, and if you are a little computer-wise there are huge number of Perl tools available.

Also, Texco, is slow in customer service and software improvement. The additions in the last version were disappointing. This is reminiscent of other established software makers for the scientific community. Compare, Endnote with Bookends for example. Endnote is sluggish, some long know bugs haven't been removed for years. Bookend on the other hand has great customer relations and are quick to release updates. So, if you want Texco's GCK don't expect swift actions and reactions.

It's important to warn future users that GCK is by no means stable. If have had plenty of crashes doing basic things, which have cost me unsaved data.

Now take a look at my personal list of missing features, get the trial version, and see whether GCK is for you:

length of highlighted section (currently only start & end)
open recent menu item
create separate sequence tag for comments (currently identical to site)
slight bug when changing from ds to ss view; current sequence position not kept on screen
while in construct (not sequence view) it is not possible to select a position that is not at a boundary, i.e. you cannot put cursor into plain stretch of sequence
mark enzyme more than entry becomes inlegible
not possible to highlight separate stretches of DNA
should be possible to save Display features in Chronography

My usage env't: OS X latest, GCK2.5.11 and previous verions, usage time: 2 years total, latest version half a year

Is definitely a… - Version: 2.5.8, 3/26/2003 06:57AM PST