Gene Codes today released the latest revision of Sequencher, its Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence assembly and analysis software. The update is designed to be easy to use, fast, and powerful enough to handle virtually any DNA sequencing need, according to the company. "Researchers in academic labs and pharmaceutical companies around the world study DNA, which contains the essential genetic instructions key to an organism's growth and development, in hopes of discovering the causes of disease, and the development of novel treatments or diagnostics, and Sequencher is a key tool in their research," Gene Codes stated. Upgrades to Sequencher 4.8 are available for free or at reduced cost to current users, according to Gene Code, and the latest release requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later (pricing was unavailable).

Sequencher includes improvements to the Variance Table tool for quickly finding DNA mutations as well as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in their sequences, and enables users to filter the range of sequences examined.

Sequencher's new Translated Variance Table functionality provides users with a means of focusing on only those DNA sequence changes that result in changes in protein coding, while additional attachments to GenBank include handling as well as new contextual menus and four new reporting options.