Sorry to sound impatient (and not being hindered by having all the mails on this list), but - if available - I would use some of the code you seem to be proposing right away. Together with some friends I am running a generalized database project geared towards molecular biology labs (http://phplabware.sf.net). It provides an easy and extensible interface to an SQL database and plugin code can enhance its functionality. For a rudimentary plasmid database, we started writing a very simple genbank parser (http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/phplabware/phplabware/plug ins/gb_plugin.php?rev=1.1&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup), but I would reuse (better) code anytime if available. The alternative would be, of course, to use bioperl, but it would be much nicer and easier to use php code. So, if there is any code and or idea about structuring the objects out there, make it known so that wok can be done. Best, Nico