public boolean checkFields(){
		if(this.nameTextField.getText().compareTo("") == 0){
			ErrorMessage.giveErrorMessage("Please enter a sequence name.");
			return false;
		}
		
		if(this.sequencePanel.getOriginalText().compareTo("") == 0){
			ErrorMessage.giveErrorMessage("Please enter a genetic sequence.");
			return false;
		}
		else{
			if(UtilityMethods.checkNucleotideSequence(this.sequencePanel.getOriginalText()) == false){
				ErrorMessage.giveErrorMessage("Nucleotide sequence must contain only the characters 'g', 'c', 'a', 't', 'G', 'C', 'A', or 'T'.");
				return false;
			}
		}
		
		if((this.organismComboBox.getSelectedIndex() == -1) || (this.standardComboBox.getSelectedIndex() == -1) || (this.plasmidComboBox.getSelectedIndex() == -1)){
			ErrorMessage.giveErrorMessage("Please select an organism, a standard, and a plasmid.");
			return false;
		}

		return true;
	}