biOpen

We purchased BiOpen after evaluating a number of packages for analysis of both protein and DNA sequences. BiOpen easily offered the best balance of features and value for money. The modularity of the application enabled us to purchase the analysis tool that we needed, tailoring it for our requirements. We have found the application intuitive and easy to use, organising each of the sequence groups into individual projects making it simple to share data between different users. On the few occasions when we have needed assistance the technical backup and support has been both rapid and extremely helpful. Over the time we have had the application it has been continually developed to provide additional functionality.

We performed an extensive search on comprehensive molecular biology suites, comparing ease of use, features, platform, customer support and price. No single suite satisfied every need, however in the final analysis, we selected Aborygen's biOpen as being the most comprehensive and offering the most outstanding value. We received a package with nearly every feature that competitors were offering, while receiving excellent and responsive customer service. The modular nature of BiOpen makes adding capabilities easy and Aborygen has also been outstanding with regular updates containing the most cutting edge algorithms such as MUSCLE. Working with Aborygen has been more like a scientific collaboration than a commercial sale. They have even indicated willingess to design custom modules! Once they release a Windows platform version of this program, all of our needs will have been met. We whole-heartedly recommend BiOpen as an excellent general molecular biology and proteomics suite.

I chose to buy BioOpen after struggling for years with various open source and home grown programs. I was attracted to the idea of harnessing the often excellent open source programs that are out there into a single app with capacity to hold together a bunch of sequences relating to a particular project. It was obviously new software and I anticipated the odd glitch. After 6 months use I'm very happy with its performance, and with the rapid response of the developers to the few problems I've found (all to do with interface rather than data integrity). I use BioOpen principally for planning construction of expression plasmids, so most use the restriction enzyme, ORF and alignment capabilities. All are good. The 3D imaging capability is nice for correlating structure with sequence and for fairly quickly obtaining nice pictures, but I still use VMD for anything heavier. It handles lots of formats and eases interaction with the many web-based services I use. The principal competition is MacVector which is more comprehensive, more mature, and much more expensive. The interface is old, copy protection irritatingly pervasive, and in my experience (prolonged problems with local proxy servers), their commitment to technical support is weak. Much of what I do is done well by GeneConstructor. but that feels very much like an Os9 app just managing in Os X, and has not been updated for years.