Arlequin

The study of genetics and other related fields can be made a lot easier when involving specialized utilities to take care of various tests and analyses. Among the programs which are designed for such purposes Arlequin is one that is dedicated to population genetics.

The great thing about this application is that it doesn't have to be installed in order to function properly, so it can be carried onto a portable storage device and deployed from there on any system.

The GUI has a plain look, but the main window hosts all the functions and commands in such a manner that they can be easily accessed since practicality is key for this kind of tools.

Arlequin is well provided not only insofar as the features are concerned, but also in terms of examples, as it comes with several built-in samples which can be used to create, edit and run projects to better understand the program's capabilities.

There is also a Genetic Structure Editor module, from where one can associate populations with group numbers and preview the resulting structures. To make the job even easier, the Project Wizard area enables users to input data type, controls and some optional sections to put together a new project in no time.

The data import and export abilities of Arlequin make it possible to transform files to and from various formats, like Genepop, Biosys, Phylip, WinAmova or Mega. The analysis results are loaded inside the default web browser and presented in a tree-like structure to make them easier to select and read.

To sum things up, Arlequin is indeed a good choice for anyone involved in the study of population genetics. Thanks to a solid feature pack, ease of use and quick processing, this software solution seems appropriate for such analyses and, in the same time, accessible for a great number of users.