Online Tools for Characterization, Design, and Debugging

The engineering of biological systems can be greatly aided by better models, derived from high-quality characterization data, and by better means for designing and debugging new genetic circuits. Web-based tools and repositories have proven a successful approach to distributing such techniques, particularly because the centralization of infrastructure greatly decreases adoption cost for new users. Notable examples include the Parts Registry [8], the RBS calculator [10], GeneDesign [9], GenoCAD [4], BioFab [7], and JBEI ICE [6]. No prior web-based tools, however, have supported either analysis of characterization data or high-level design that can take advantage of such data. Previously, we have constructed a number of such tools during the course of building the TASBE end-to-end tool-chain for biological design [2]. We have now improved these tools to be more user friendly and broadly applicable, and placed them online as free webbased tools, embedded in a secure architecture to preserve data privacy.