What Can RasMol Do?
RasMol can display all or any part(s) of a molecule or molecular
complex for which an atomic coordinate file
is available. The display can be magnified to any degree
desired. RasMol can rotate the displayed image which is
very effective at conveying the 3-dimensional structure. RasMol
can display the image in stereo. Different parts of the
structure can be colored in any way desired to convey
structural information, and can be labeled.
RasMol can report information about atoms pointed to with the mouse,
including the atom's name, and the residue and macromolecular
chain in which it resides; also bond distances and angles.
RasMol can represent structures in many ways, including stick models,
ball and stick models, backbone traces, spacefilling models, cartoons,
ribbons, or strands. Different representations can be combined in one
image. More details about what RasMol can do are in the
What Can't RasMol Do?
RasMol cannot move two molecules, or two parts of a molecular complex,
relative to each other. All RasMol movements move the entire structure
represented in the data file. For example, RasMol cannot show the binding
of a substrate to, or its release from, an enzyme.
(MAGE is a program which can do relative movements.)
can move several molecules relative to each
other. Beware, however, that it contains some serious bugs. Best
not to use it routinely in place of standard RasMol.
RasMol cannot generate
new molecular structures or modify old ones. It displays only the fixed
structural data in atomic coordinate files, one file at a time.
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