GENtle 2/About

GENtle 2 is a rethink of the original GENtle and was created by Magnus Manske in partnership with Synbiota. In 2003, the original GENtle was released to the world as open source under the GPLV2 license. GENtle is one of the first, if not the first, DNA and amino acid design tool as it allows its users to design and model DNA, edit both DNA and amino acid code and abstract the complexity of the underlying DNA code by graphically displaying the DNA and amino acid sequences as icons or images singly or in an array. GENtle2 is unique in that it is based on the latest open-web standards. GENtle 2 runs purely within the browser and needs no proprietary software to function.

GENtle2 is a web-based, open-source browser-app that assists designers, developers, scientists and enthusiasts to develop novel biological products during bioengineering or "synthetic biology" research. It works in most modern web browsers including those found on desktop and tablet computers, however, some browsers are more advanced than others and GENtle 2 makes good use of those advanced features. GENtle 2 is built with HTML5, Javascript, canvas and webDB so that it can be used online or offline and there is no need to download and install it in your machine. See the Compatibility section for more information.

A key feature in GENtle 2 is that anyone can create Javascript plug-ins to process their DNA sequences. Plug-ins can be run locally (from the User's machine), from an external URL, or submitted to the GENtle plugin store (coming soon to a URL near you!) by emailing gentle@synbiota.com. If they are submitted to GENtle, this means anyone around the world can access them, and the original authors will always be recognized for their work. All plug-ins submitted to the GENtle 2 plug-in store, must also be released as open-source, be compatible with the MPL 2.0 license, and must not require any proprietary software to function.

GENtle 2 was made public under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 on Saturday May 12, 2012 at 9:03 PDT at an Open Work Day event sponsored by the Mozilla Foundation. The submit button was clicked in Mozilla HQ's "Ten Forward" room.