BACKGROUND: There is a need for software applications that provide users with a complete and extensible toolkit for chemo- and bioinformatics accessible from a single workbench. Commercial packages are expensive and closed source, hence they do not allow end users to modify algorithms and add custom functionality.
Existing open-source projects are more focused on providing a framework for integrating existing, separately installed bioinformatics packages, rather than providing user-friendly interfaces. No open-source chemoinformatics workbench has previously been published, and no successful attempts have been made to integrate chemo- and bioinformatics into a single framework.
RESULTS:
Bioclipse is an advanced workbench for resources in chemo- and bioinformatics, such as molecules, proteins, sequences, spectra, and scripts. It provides 2D-editing, 3D visualization, file format conversion, calculation of chemical properties, and much more; all fully integrated into a user-friendly desktop application.
Editing supports standard functions such as cut and paste, drag and drop, and undo/redo. Bioclipse is written in Java and based on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform with a state-of-the-art plugin architecture. This gives Bioclipse an advantage over other systems as it can easily be extended with functionality in any desired direction.
CONCLUSION:
Bioclipse is a powerful workbench for bio- and chemoinformatics as well as an advanced integration platform. The rich functionality, intuitive user interface, and powerful plugin architecture make Bioclipse the most advanced and user-friendly open-source workbench for chemo- and bioinformatics.
Bioclipse is released under Eclipse Public License (EPL), an open source license that sets no constraints on external plugin licensing; it is totally open for both open-source plugins as well as commercial ones. Bioclipse is freely available at http://www.bioclipse.net.