I built a triage tool so my friend stops ordering dead probes

Description and use

ORBITGENE is a mutation triage tool for molecular biology labs that uses public databases and a local NLI model to prevent costly, unnecessary probe orders.

Problem

A molecular biology lab was ordering probes for every mutation flagged by databases, spending money on assays that often yielded no useful information. The lab lacked a way to triage mutations before ordering probes.

Outcome

ORBITGENE reduced unnecessary probe orders by triaging mutations with evidence from multiple public sources, preventing costly assays for non‑viable variants and ensuring accurate coding sequence usage.

Workflow

• 1. Input a protein substitution (e.g., BRCA1 I26F).
• 2. ORBITGENE retrieves the protein from UniProt, the coding sequence from RefSeq, ClinVar classification for the exact substitution, and NOAA SWPC radiation data.
• 3. It verifies the coding sequence matches the UniProt protein residue by translating the annotated CDS.
• 4. It checks for reference residue consistency and rejects mismatches.
• 5. It calculates six weighted factors (physicochemical displacement, assay signal budget, structural context, probe thermodynamics, radiation integrity, codon consequence).
• 6. It applies five hard gates (FLIGHT‑GO, GROUND‑ONLY, REDESIGN‑PROBE, HOLD‑FOR‑EVIDENCE).
• 7. It outputs a score, verdict, and a ledger of factor contributions.
• 8. An open‑weight NLI model runs locally in the browser to explain the verdict in natural language.
• 9. The user reviews the evidence and decides whether to order, redesign, or hold the probe.

Evidence

She was spending money on oligos. Not recklessly, and not carelessly — she just had no way to answer one question before ordering: if this mutation is real, is it even worth an assay?

Source

Four public, keyless sources, each labelled live or fallback on every single response: UniProt, RefSeq, ClinVar, NOAA SWPC.

Source

The engine now refuses a reference residue that disagrees with the coding sequence.

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Six weighted factors, five hard gates, one verdict, and no black box anywhere.

Source

It runs on your machine. WebGPU, ~4.5 s inference, verified working on the live site. No API key, no cost per run, no quota.

Source