GenAlEx
Peakall, R., Smouse, P.E., 2006. GENALEX 6: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research. Molecular Ecology Notes 6, 288-295.

GenAlEx, short for ' Genetic Analysis in Excel', is a user-friendly cross-platform package for population genetic analysis that runs within Microsoft Excel(TM). GenAlEx enables population genetic data analysis of codominant, haploid and binary genetic data providing analysis tools applicable to plants, animals and microorganisms. GenAlEx was originally developed as a tool to assist us in our teaching of population genetic analysis, and is now widely used by university teachers and researchers around the world. In GenAlEx 6, we are pleased to introduce many new features for both teachers and researchers.

GenAlEx News (Posted 26-2-09)

We are pleased to announce the following Graduate Student Workshops in Genetics to be held at the Australian National University in 2009.

To register or for more information please see: http://www.anu.edu.au/BoZo/workshops/

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Genetic Analysis for Population Studies
July 10-17, 2009.

A course offered by Professor Rod Peakall (ANU) and Professor Peter Smouse (Rutgers University, USA)
This workshop covers a wide range of standard and new statistical procedures for the population analysis and is designed to ensure that students fully understand the procedures involved. For many of the analyses, students will learn to calculate the various statistics by hand, before attempting the self-paced, computer-based tutorial examples. Examples will be drawn from a wide range of organisms.

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Analytical Methods for Population Genetics
October 6 to 9, 2009.

A course offered by Dr David Gordon and Dr Celeste Linde (ANU).
The workshop will present the theoretical framework and concepts necessary to understand the processes shaping the genetic structure of microbial and eukaryote populations. Participants will be introduced to the basic analytical principles underlying a range of public domain software that are available for the analysis of population genetic data.

Note that past experience indicates that these workshops can fill very fast. For example, the Genetic Analysis workshop can fill in just a few days. Therefore, you are encouraged to register immediately.

Smouse, P. E., Peakall, R., and Gonzales, E. (2008) A heterogeneity test for fine-scale genetic structure. Molecular Ecology 17, 3389-3400.

Beck, N., Peakall, R., and Heinsohn, R. (2008) Social constraint and an absence of sex-biased dispersal drive fine-scale genetic structure in white-winged choughs. Molecular Ecology 17, 4346-4358.

To access these journal articles please see: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117989598/issueyear?year=2008

GenAlEx 6.2 also fixes a number of minor bugs and therefore will be the only version available from this web site.

Thank you for using GenAlEx.

Rod Peakall and Peter Smouse

GenAlEx and Macintosh Compatibility
Please note that GenAlEx is not compatible with Office 2008 on the Macintosh.   Unfortunately, Microsoft no longer support the macro language Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) used to write GenAlEx .   This means any Excel Add-ins including GenAlEx no longer run in Office 2008.   The good news is that in the response to the many unhappy customers, rumours indicate Microsoft will bring VBA back to the Mac in future versions of Excel.

(see http://www.macobserver.com/article/2008/05/13.2.shtml)

Meanwhile, the options for Mac users are either: 1. keep Office 2004 on your Mac, 2. run GenAlEx within Office 2007 in Windows on an Intel Mac, or 3. Run GenAlEx on a PC.   Note that VBA applications like GenAlEx have always run considerably faster in Windows so options 2 or 3 will be faster especially for larger data sets.

Previous News

A new Master of Molecular Genetic Analysis at the Australian National University

Gathering genetic data is becoming faster and easier, now we need new ways to analyse the data. Skills in molecular genetic analysis are crucial.

The new Master of Molecular Genetic Analysis builds on a series of highly successful national graduate workshops on population genetic analysis offered by the authors of GenAlEx over the past decade. It provides a unique blend of theoretical knowledge, laboratory skills, and computing techniques - arming students with the intellectual tools they will need to design, carry out and interpret molecular genetic analysis.

The one year long program is open to graduate students with a Bachelor of Science or equivalent with a major in the field of biological sciences with relevant experience or honours, and will be of particular interest to graduate students from Australasia and the nearby Asia and Pacific regions.

The program begins each year in February, with applications closing in December of the previous year.

For more information about the Master of Molecular Genetic Analysis program please see:
http://www.anu.edu.au/BoZo/discover.php