March 1, 2016 (Vol. 36, No. 5)
Rating:
Strong Points: Good restriction enzyme reference, safety icons
Weak Points: Recipes section requires annotation
Platform:
iPad/iPhone
Cost:
$1.99
Summary:
The Mr. BioChem app provides a standard suite of useful laboratory tools that are accessible from five different sections of the app: Calculators, Recipes, Safety, Enzymes, and Extra. The Calculators section includes sequence tools, like one for finding restriction sites within a user-inputted DNA sequence, a codon table, and a translation tool. It also contains a large number of calculators relevant to solution preparation. The Recipes section includes some pre-loaded recipes for common laboratory solutions, though many of them require additional annotations to account for variables such as pH or volume. Within other sections of the app, users will find a list of restriction enzyme recognition sequences and a useful glossary of laboratory safety signs and icons. The app “extras” include links to other resources, such as BLAST and ExPASy.
