Access to Genebank - how??

[Dennis Benson]

AROOZ (bctalarz at uxmail.ust.hk) wrote:
> Hi,

> I haave heard of the Gene bank and would like to have access to it. Is it
> freely available to all users? What I need to do is give the name of a gene
> and get back the sequence. It should be simple, but I have no idea how to
> begin.

> Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please email all info to

> bcscc at usthk.ust.hk (Chan Siu Chiu)

> If there is enough information, I will post a summary of all replies.

> Thanks in advance.

> Talha


Dear Colleague,

Access to GenBank and a number of other sequence databases is 
available free of charge through NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology
Information, NIH) e-mail servers. The databases available are 
listed in the help documentation. Below
I have added a file with information on electronic access and
obtaining the help documentation. Please let us know
if you have any additonal questions about access or
submissions to GenBank. Our general technical service e-mail
address is

	info at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sincerely,

Diana Airozo
GenBank User Services Staff


*****************************************

NCBI ELECTRONIC MAIL SERVERS AND NETWORK DATABASE ACCESS



ELECTRONIC MAIL SERVERS


NCBI provides access to GenBank through two e-mail servers:

   RETRIEVE (for record retrieval from GenBank and other databases)
   BLAST (for sequence similarity searching)  

These services are free of charge. All that is required is the ability to
send and receive Internet electronic mail.

To use either server, first send a message with HELP as the only word 
in the body of the message.  You will receive instructions for formatting 
a query in the return message.

The RETRIEVE server allows you to obtain sequences by accession 
number, locus, author, keyword, etc.  Searches are processed within a
few seconds, and a response should appear with the next posting of
messages by your local e-mail system.  

The BLAST server allows you to send a DNA or protein sequence in a mail
message, and use our BLAST sequence similarity search software to compare
your sequence against the entire database. Your results will automatically be
returned to your e-mail address. The number of searches in the blast
queue and the complexity of your search will determine how quickly your
results are returned. We request that you do not re-submit any search within
any 24 hour period. 

The server addresses are:

   retrieve at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  (Retrieve server)
   blast at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov     (BLAST server)
         
Questions or comments about the servers can be sent to:

   retrieve-help@ ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  (RETRIEVE help)
   blast-help at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov      (BLAST help)
         


NETWORK DATABASE ACCESS


NCBI also has direct network access to GenBank and other databases, through
Network Entrez and Network Blast.

Network Entrez provides the same software retrieval system as our
Entrez CD-ROM product. Network BLAST provides direct access for sequence 
searching using the BLAST algorithm.

Both programs require direct TCP/IP access to the Internet and a local
systems administrator to install the software and provide end-user support.
This designated administrator should contact NCBI for further information and
site registration:

	net-info at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov    (Network Entrez)
	blast-help at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  (Network BLAST)


revised 2/94