FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OnScreen Science, Inc. Releases OnScreen DNA for Macintosh, "Virtual Hands-On" Software for Learning the 3D Structure and Function of DNA
SOMERVILLE, MA—March 20, 2006—OnScreen Science, Inc.® today announced the immediate availability of OnScreen DNA™, its interactive 3D visualization software designed to place understanding of the structure and workings of DNA within easy reach of Macintosh users. While aimed primarily at high school and college biology teachers for use in classes or computer labs, OnScreen DNA™ should benefit others with an interest in this fundamental topic of modern biology.
Bob Estes, President of OnScreen Science, sums up the software's value this way: "OnScreen DNA provides virtual hands-on learning that just doesn't exist anywhere else for DNA. If you want to truly master something, you have to be able to do it yourself, in some sense, not just read about it or watch someone else do it. OnScreen DNA applies this concept to the study of DNA processes. When you see how the virtual 3D model of DNA responds to enzyme actions you initiate, it reinforces your understanding of how DNA works. And, for example, when you can successfully make two perfect 3D copies of the DNA you started with, you can claim mastery of the replication process."
OnScreen DNA™ can serve as a supplement to other activities or as a self-contained guided tutorial on DNA's double helix structure, its chemical components, and its biological function. It can also be used for projecting lecture hall demonstrations of DNA processes, paused and resumed at the teacher's command.
Tutorial on-screen guides provide both background and step-by-step explanations of the simulated DNA processes. Identification of any component of the DNA is simply obtained by clicking on it. Users can rotate the DNA model and zoom in or out to see it from different perspectives even while simulations with moving components are taking place. After becoming familiar with a process, the user is given the opportunity to control it by selecting enzyme actions and by dragging DNA building blocks to the proper spot during strand-building processes. On-screen tests are available for each activity, and test results can be displayed on the screen and saved.
A Taste of OnScreen DNA™, a free preview version of the software, is available by download from the web site www.onscreen-dna.com.. This preview consists of the first few steps of the gene transcription study activity, enough to bring into play the various integrated components of the program: activity guides, DNA model display, linear sequence display, and enzyme activity display. Most general features of the full version, such as component identification and model rotation and zoom, are enabled in the preview version.
OnScreen DNA™ is a Universal Binary, getting maximum performance out of both PowerPC and Intel Macintoshes. It requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or greater, and a G4 processor or greater is recommended. Prospective customers can use the performance of A Taste of OnScreen DNA on their computer as an indication of what they can expect from the full version.
OnScreen DNA™ is available from OnScreen Science, Inc.®, 46 Wallace St. Somerville, MA 02144 or online at www.onscreen-dna.com for a price of $199 (USD). Ten-computer site licenses are available for $695. OnScreen DNA Lite™, which consists of the first two of the six learning and testing activities, is devoted to a detailed walkthrough of DNA structure and the phenomenon of denaturation. It will continue to be offered as a separate product, and anyone purchasing it can apply the purchase price to the full edition at a later date. OnScreen DNA Lite™ now becomes a Universal Binary as well.
The target date for a Windows-version release of OnScreen DNA™ is late 2006.
OnScreen Science, Inc.® publishes Ph.D.-scientist-designed software for science education tasks particularly benefiting from computer simulations. In addition to OnScreen DNA™, the company also offers OnScreen Particle Physics™, a highly regarded simulation of a particle detection chamber for both the Windows and Macintosh platforms.