Patent ID: 7680601

Claim:
A method of designing and producing a polyketide synthase (PKS) gene, which method comprises: (a) defining the structure of a desired polyketide by a first string of alphanumeric symbols, wherein each symbol in the first string represents a monomer unit of the desired polyketide, (b) comparing the first string of alphanumeric symbols to a second string of alphanumeric symbols from a database, wherein the database comprises at least one second string of alphanumeric symbols representing a known polyketide, and wherein each alphanumeric symbol in the second string represents a monomer unit of the known polyketide, (c) identifying a common alphanumeric symbol or continuous sequence of alphanumeric symbols in said first and second strings, (d) generating a third string, wherein the third string comprises the name of the known polyketide and the common alphanumeric symbol or continuous sequence of alphanumeric symbols identified from step (c), and wherein the third string represents the structure of a PKS gene encoding a PKS enzyme capable of producing the desired polyketide, (e) storing or displaying the third string, and (f) using the third string to produce the PKS gene; or wherein steps (b) and (c) are repeated.