Build an assembly design

Create a new assembly

1. Select the + button next to a project name.
2. Select Assembly to open the Assembly actions submenu.
3. Select Blank assembly or From schema….
4. If the assembly drawer is closed, select Assembly Details at the right end of the narrow header above the design.

Add and arrange parts

1. At the top of the drawer, the Assembly steps strip lists Parts, Assembly, and Finalize and Export from left to right.
2. If the design has no parts, select Add blank part.
3. To insert another placeholder, point to the boundary between two part cards or after the last card. Select + Part (Create new part).
4. To add bases between two parts, point to their boundary, select + Spacer (Add spacer sequence), and enter the DNA bases.
5. To change the part order, drag the six-dot handle at the left of a part card and release it at the new position. Its accessible name starts with Reorder and the part name.

DNAForge keeps the new part order and spacer sequence in the assembly design.

Paste a copied sequence into a part

On macOS, you can copy an entire DNA sequence into a new placeholder part in an existing assembly.

1. Open the source DNA sequence and select Edit.
2. Press Command-A, then press Command-C.
3. Return to the assembly design. The Clipboard summary shows the copied sequence name and length.
4. At the boundary where you want the part, select + Part (Create new part).
5. In the new empty part, select Paste copied sequence.

DNAForge replaces the placeholder and keeps the surrounding part order.

Choose the assembly method

In the drawer's first Parts step, find the Type row above the part cards. Open Select assembly method there, then select Gibson, NEBuilder, or GoldenGate. If you switch away from a drafted method and later return without changing the part composition, DNAForge restores that method's prior junction and primer draft.

Draft or update junctions and primers

Draft or Update is available only when the design has at least two parts and no empty placeholder parts.

1. Open the Assembly step from the strip at the top of the drawer. Select Draft at the right of its control row to compute the current junctions and primers.
2. After a draft exists, select Update to recompute it from the current parts and method.
3. To remove the current junction and primer draft without removing the parts, select Clear. The main action changes back to Draft.

After drafting, review each junction in the assembly workbench. Select the jump control beside a junction label, such as Jump Junction 1 in sequence viewer. DNAForge focuses the design tab and moves the sequence viewer to that junction.