iEureka

Gadets like the iPhone are now taking this habit into the 21^st century and beyond. iPhones combine Wi-Fi connectivity with its revolutionary multi-touch technology to put the power and functionality of a laptop or desktop computer right in the palm of your hand. You can jot down that inspired thought with the iPhone's nifty on-screen touch keyboard, e-mail it to your friends for feedback, and then call them to make sure they got it, all while jamming out to your favorite tunes.

Apple has pioneered a hand-held revolution through its use of web applications, or "apps" as they're called. These apps let users scan movie times, check their favorite news sites and blogs, or keep themselves entertained with their favorite web games and puzzles during a boring lecture or long commute.

Developers of these apps are now branching out to an ubergeek audience. Recent apps range from study tools like iAmino, which quizzes the user on different amino acids and their properties (a very handy reference for anyone taking biochemistry), to database query applications perfect for the on-the-go researcher. If you like your morning coffee with a side of science (and lets face it - who doesn't?) then these science apps are for you.  My personal favorite is a FREE app called "Get All the Science", providing instant access to the latest headlines and full articles from Nature, Scientific American, and other leading scientific publications from around the world. (Hmmmm....where's the Scitable app?)

In case you are left bereft amongst all the choices, Wired.com has narrowed it down for you.  They just posted their picks for the top "strange science" iphone apps, which includes Binofo's iProto Yeast at number one.  Thanks to Binofo, the budding yeast biologist  can now carry the full yeast proteome right in their pocket.  For just $4.99, you can browse the complete proteome of S. cerevisiae and its lab bench cohorts of yeast species. You can also do a BLAST or Multiple Sequence Alignment search on your protein of interest, e-mail your findings to colleagues, look at a 2D visualization of the protein, and scan a particular domain or functional region, all without being shackled to a lab computer.  If you also have the free Molecules app (courtesy of Sunset Lake Software), then you can look at the protein's full 3D structure. Other related Binofo apps include a free reference-only version called iProto Yeast Lite (lowfat proteomics?), and iProto Human (for those ego-surfers).

But wait-there's more! There's already an app that allows you to scan a restriction enzyme database known as REBASE, and it's called - you guessed it - iCut DNA. Then there's Primer Jot, another handy app, which keeps track of all your PCR primer sequences in one place, calculates their Tm for you, and allows you to sort them by project, alongside your personal notes. 

So thanks to the iPhone, when that "eureka" moment comes, you can keep track of your idea, and run with it, wherever you may be. Will you be ready when that burning inspiration for proteome analysis strikes?

Image Credit: Apple, Inc.