github.com/schmidt73/guidescan-web ↗
A guideRNA design tool for the modern era.
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Contributors
2
Lines of Code
458
From
2020-08-21
To
2021-02-01
About schmidt73/guidescan-web
Guidescan-web is a REST API backend for a guide RNA design tool, built in Clojure to help biologists design CRISPR guide RNAs. The tool processes queries for finding optimal guide sequences across different organisms and Cas enzymes, submitting them to a job queue and returning results in multiple formats like CSV, JSON, and BED files. It represents a modern rewrite of the original Guidescan platform, intended to address limitations of the earlier system while maintaining its utility for genomics research.
The application is deployed as a standalone JAR file and requires Java 8 or higher along with Leiningen for development. It exposes three main REST API endpoints: one for submitting guide RNA queries, another for checking job status and retrieving results, and a third for discovering what organisms and enzymes are currently supported. Users can access all endpoints without authentication, making the service openly available to the research community.
Configuration is handled at runtime through an EDN configuration file, allowing flexibility in deployment across different systems. The setup requires linking to precomputed guide RNA databases for each organism-enzyme combination, as well as a gene-symbol database for resolving gene names. The project includes comprehensive documentation for database generation and is distributed with an example configuration file to guide new deployments.