# blast

## Summary

+ **Module Name:** ncbi_blast
+ **Support Level:** Secondary Support
+ **Software Access Level:** Open Access
+ **Home Page:** [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST)

## Software Description

The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) finds regions of local
similarity between sequences. The program compares nucleotide or protein
sequences to sequence databases and calculates the statistical
significance of matches. BLAST can be used to infer functional and
evolutionary relationships between sequences as well as help identify
members of gene families.
## General Linux

To run this software
[interactively](https://www.msi.umn.edu/remote-access) in
a Linux environment run the commands:

    module load ncbi_blast
    blastall -p blastp -d swissprot -i my_seq.fa -o myblast.out

This software will compare a protein sequence found in my_seq.fa against
the swissprot protein database. Local databases for BLAST searches are
available in

    /common/bioref/blast/latest

Note:  Users are strongly encouraged to use
[BLAST+](https://www.msi.umn.edu/sw/blast-0) , a new suite of BLAST
tools with performance and feature improvements over the legacy BLAST
applications. Additional Information

[Documentation](http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi?CMD=Web&PAGE_TYPE=BlastDocs)