Halx: free lab information management system for structural biology

Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2005 Jun;61(Pt 6):671-8.

HalX: an open-source LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) for small to large scale labs

Jaime Prilusky, Eric Oeuillet, Nathalie Ulryck, Anne Pajon, Julie Bernauer, Isabelle Krimm, Sophie Quevillon-Cheruel, Nicolas Leulliot, Marc Graille, Dominique Liger, Lionel Trésaugues, Joel L. Sussman, Joël Janin, Herman van Tilbeurgh, and Anne Poupon


Abstract

Structural genomics aims at the establishment of a universal protein fold dictionary through systematic structure determination either by NMR or X-ray crystallography. In order to catch up with the explosive amount of protein sequence data, the structural biology laboratories are spurred to increase the speed of the structure determination process. To achieve this goal, high-throughput robotic approaches are increasingly used in all the steps leading from cloning to data collection and even structure interpretation becomes more and more automatic. The progresses made in these areas have begun to have a significant impact on the more "classical" structural biology laboratories, dramatically increasing the number of individual experiments. This automation creates the need for efficient data management. We present here a new software, HalX, designed as an «electronic lab book», that aims at (i) storage and (ii) easy access and use of all experimental data. This should lead to a much improved management and tracking of structural genomics experimental data. HalX is an open-source software, distributed freely under GPL licence, on our website http://halx.genomics.eu.org .

Last update 06-Oct-2005, Rating n/a of 0 votes.