Plasmid ARTIST® is the first Macintosh® graphic program designed for molecular biologists that creates and produces publication quality plasmid diagrams (graphical representations of recombinant DNA molecules used in the design and publication of experimental results).

It uses a simple, MacDraw-like user interface that allows biologists to easily construct diagrams detailing their recombinant DNA molecule-building strategies and results. Using the mouse and pull- down menus, users can draw linear or circular restriction map diagrams containing a virtually unlimited number of restriction sites and fragments.

Over 80 common restriction enzymes are provided in the "Site" menu and others can be added by the user. These can be used to automatically generate restriction site labels for maps created from DNA sequences. Plasmid ARTIST® can import DNA sequence data from four common sequence file formats.

The program automatically keeps track of the size of the molecule as one "clones" in new gene fragments using mouse-activated tools. It shows the map with correct scaling on screen and prints a high quality image to any PostScript® printer.

Plasmid ARTIST® can also export the image as a PICT or encapsulated PostScript file so that diagrams can be pasted into page layout programs for the preparation of reports and manuscripts.

Reviews:

Ahern, K. "Plasmid Artist," Biotech. Soft. (1993), Vol. 10, #2, p. 20-23.

Ahern, K. "Plasmid Artist: Restriction Maps on the Macintosh," Biotech. Soft. (1989), Vol. 6, #4, p. 16-17.