Signals BioDesign: First steps to activate a BioDesign collection

Signals BioDesign allows you to register new sequences and search for existing ones using the Sequences smart folder. The sequence collections are available within the Sequences smart folder. Each collection is configured individually by the system administrator. In this article, you will find a step-by-step guide on how to activate your collections in Signals BioDesign.

First step: Activate the collection

It is necessary to perform the initial configuration of a collection, in this step we will create the Sequence ID of the collection to be used, and we will perform the activation of the collection. To exemplify this first step, we will configure a native collection of Signals BioDesign, the collection “DNA Oligos”.

Steps to follow:

1. Access the Signals configuration menu and select the “BioDesign Settings” option.

2. In the left side menu, expand the option "Sequence Settings", then, we will expand the option "Oligo Collections" and select DNA oligos. In this section select the option "ID sequence".
   

3. The ID sequence section will open directly, in this section we must place a sequence, which will allow the creation of collections with the same code. It is recommended that this sequence be short and related to the material to be used. Below you can see an example of this configuration.

4. In the left side menu, expand "Sequence Settings" and select the option "Collection management".
   

5. You will find your collections, search for the option you want to activate. In this case we will search for “DNA Oligos” and activate the toggle button until it turns green. If the activation is correct, it should look like the following screenshot.
   

Second step: Provide the appropriate permissions in BioDesign privileges

Permissions within the BioDesign Privileges section will define what the different user roles can and cannot do, this will allow System administrators to define which users can have access to the materials and what actions they can perform over the materials.

Steps to follow:

1. Access the Signals configuration menu and select the “BioDesign Settings” option.

2. In the left side menu, select the option "Privileges".

3. The system administrator must define which privileges each user role will have over the Collections.

Third step: Provide access through security policy

This step is not for a specific collection, but it is necessary to perform this activation, or it could lead to errors.

Steps to follow:

1. Access to the Signals configuration menu and select the “Security policy” option.

2. For general access, add the following rule:

# Grants access to all users to all BioDesign Collection.
 RULE "Add Access to biodesign Libraries to anyone"
 IF
   resource type equal "Biodesign collection"
 THEN
   grant "entity.write"

Note: You can restrict this access by group; however, this depends on your institutional preferences. 

Once this process is complete, you will have successfully configured access to your Collections in Signals BioDesign.