Stanford University School of Medicine Associate Professor Arend Sidow recently launched his bioinformatics tool, which "enlists evolution as the guide to determining the role different proteins play in a wide array of organisms."

The database called "ProPhylER" enables a researcher studying a protein, or the gene coding for it, to more easily determine how it works and whether something might go wrong if the gene has a mutation.

"Whether you're a cell biologist, biochemist or structural biologist, ProPhylER produces instant working hypotheses for you as to where the protein's functional areas are," Sidow said.

"ProPhylER" is a play on words derived from the term "PROtein PHYLogenetics and Evolutionary Rates."

The National Institutes of Health's National Human Genome Research Institute provided funding for the project which is available at http://www.prophyler.org.