GeneBio Updates Phenyx Platform With Improved Functionality and Support of mzData Standard (In Japanese)

Geneva, Switzerland - February 25, 2005 - Geneva Bioinformatics (GeneBio) S.A. today announced the latest release of Phenyx, its state-of-the-art protein identification platform. This release incorporates the mzData standard and improves the results comparison functionality for all versions of Phenyx. A host of other features have also been added or enhanced to give users a richer and more poignant experience with both the public and standalone versions of Phenyx, including enhanced installer functionality for the standalone platform. GeneBio and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) have collaborated with the HUPO PSI initiative since its inception. By adding the mzData standard to this latest Phenyx release, GeneBio joins the ranks of major instrument and software vendors who have either incorporated or are in the process of incorporating the data standard that allows researchers using different mass spectrometers to smoothly share their MS data. Phenyx's recently augmented results comparison functionality permits researchers to generate a table of side-by-side results, allowing them to seamlessly compare and validate results for similar jobs (such as in the case of replicates or if the same data is set with varying parameters). Additionally, researchers can import results from other major software packages, such as Mascot and SEQUEST, in order to cross-validate or consolidate their identification results through the complementary use of several software packages.

While the addition of the mzData standard and the enriched results comparison functionality span Phenyx's public and standalone versions, upgrades specific to the standalone version are aimed at improving the user implementation experience. GeneBio has clarified the installation procedure so that the three Phenyx components - the Phenyx Calculation Engine, Phenyx Perl Modules and Phenyx Virtual Desktop - each have self-contained installers that guide the user through the process in a quick and simple manner. In addition, improvements to the Database Manager allow the installation and configuration of both personal and public databases in order to improve search outcomes.

"We believe the increased functionality of Phenyx gives researchers some of the options they have been looking for," said Pierre-Alain Binz, Phenyx Product Manager at GeneBio. "As a researcher myself, I have often faced the problem of comparing identification results, either when measuring the reproducibility of replicates, while optimizing experimental processes, or, in cases where more than one identification software had to be used in more complex workflows, to confirm or infirm series of potentially matched peptides and proteins. The results comparison functionality of Phenyx speaks to this issue, is easy to use and provides an immediate way to look for differences between outputs. Identification results generated with Phenyx or other software can be displayed side-by-side in various levels of detail and even directly exported to Excel. Concerning our involvement in the developments of the HUPO Proteome Standards Initiative, I'm happy to see the possibility to upload mzData MS data files as a first step in our efforts to increase the freedom to "browse" between instrument and software vendors. These enhancements to the Phenyx platform are part of an ongoing update process that allows our customers to better assess the pertinence and validity of results in their protein identification endeavors."

Phenyx was developed by GeneBio in collaboration with the SIB and incorporates the true probabilistic and flexible scoring system OLAV. Phenyx is specifically designed to meet the concurrent demands of high-throughput mass spectrometry data analysis and dynamic high quality results assessment. For more information, documentation concerning functionality and to download and begin using Phenyx today, please visit www.phenyx-ms.com.

About GeneBio
Founded in 1997, GeneBio is a multifaceted bioinformatics company situated at the heart of the Lake Geneva Region, one of the world's major proteomics centres of excellence. Based on expertise in the proteomics and bioinformatics fields, GeneBio offers original educational and knowledge-discovery solutions that help clients shape heterogeneous information into relevant biological knowledge.

< back