Java Benzer

ESTEEM Category

Genetics

Description

This is a basic "how to" for using the javaBenzer program to solve certain types of problems involving relationships between interacting data elements.

It is named for Dr. Seymour Benzer who carried out fine-structure genetic mapping in 1955 using this type of analysis. In his experiments, the data elements were mutants with sections of their DNA deleted, and the interaction was whether two particular mutants could, via crossing-over, produce fully functional offspring. This analysis allowed Dr. Benzer to produce a map showing the areas of deletion occurring in each of the mutant strains.

It's name also indicates that it is written in the Java computer language and ought to be easily transportable from one hardware/software configuration to another.

These same techniques can be used in ecology to examine the competition between different groups of organisms and their resource requirements.

Editor's Note:

The documentation link on this site does not provide instructions for using the Java applet. Rather, the user should run the program (by double-clicking the javaBenzer executable jar file after unzipping the downloaded folder) and read through the tutorial available under the "help" menu.

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