Help:Search

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How to search for a basic part

1. If you know the part number (e.g., BBa_J45001), simply type the unique characters after the underscore (J45001 in this case) into the search box at the top right corner of the Registry and hit enter (or click Go). This immediately takes you to the Main Page for the part.
2. If you know the name of the part (e.g., green fluorescent protein), type this into the Text Search box on the Registry search page. Click on the part numbers to go to the corresponding Main Pages. You may want to try a few variants of the part name, e.g., GFP; green fluorescent protein, etc.
3. If you want to browse for parts by type (promoter, RBS, protein domain, plasmid backbone), visit the Catalog. Click on the icon corresponding to the type of part or device that you need. This will take you to the catalog page for that part or device class with links to different sub-classes and tables for different part groups. Depending on the type of part, the tables provide various kinds of information, including a brief description and the total length of the part (in base pairs). Clicking on the part number in the table takes you directly to the Main Page for that part. Parts listed in these primary tables either have DNA available in the Registry or are very short and can be easily constructed from oligo's. Those that have a green "W" beside their entry have been shown to work in at least one system.
4. At the Catalog, you can also browse parts by function, assembly standard, or chassis. Browsing the Catalog is a good way to get a sense of what kinds of parts are available from the Registry.

How to search for a composite part

1. The same methods described above under How to search for a basic part can also be used to search for composite parts, devices and systems.
2. If you want to find all composite parts that contain a particular part, visit the Registry search page. Enter the part number of your selected part into the Superpart Search box and hit enter. A list of all composite parts containing that part will appear. Conveniently, the parts that are available from the Registry will appear at the top of the search results.

How to find previously assembled parts that will aid in constructing a composite part

1. If you have a composite part that you wish to assemble, visit the Registry search page. Enter either the number of the new composite part or the sequence of parts that make up the composite part in the Subpart Search. The search results will show you whether there are any parts in the Registry that match a portion of your composite part. These subparts may save you time during assembly by reducing the number of assemblies you need to perform to construct your composite part. Check out the Example to get an idea for the power of this type of search.