I am trying to look at the final decoding of the human genome. How can I open the *.fa files?
Response: Microsoft Word or any program that can handle large text files will do. Some of the chromosomes begin with long blocks of N’s. You may want to search for an A to get past them. Unless you have a particular need to view or use the raw data files, you might find it more interesting to look at the data using the Genome Browser. Type the name of a gene in which you’re interested into the position box (or use the default position), then click the submit button. In the resulting Genome Browser display, click the DNA link on the menu bar at the top of the page. Select the Extended case/color options button at the bottom of the next page. Now you can color the DNA sequence to display which portions are repeats, known genes, genetic markers, etc.
