Ripeline and Rmanual speed up biological research and reporting

TL;DR

Ripeline and Rmanual are customizable R-based tools that automate DNA analysis and manual creation, significantly reducing repetitive work and enhancing efficiency in biological research and reporting.

Contribution

Introduction of Ripeline and Rmanual, innovative R-based applications that streamline DNA analysis and manual creation with a focus on simplicity, reproducibility, and adaptability.

Findings

Significant reduction in time spent on repetitive tasks.

Enhanced automation in DNA marker analysis.

Improved efficiency in manual and checklist preparation.

Abstract

The emergence of R, a freely available data analysis environment, brought to the researcher in any science field a set of well-concerted instruments of immense power and low cost. In botany and zoology, these instruments could be used, for example, to speed up work in two distant but related fields: analysis of DNA markers and preparation of natural history manuals. Both of these tasks require a significant amount of monotonous work, which could be automated with software. I developed "Ripeline and "Rmanual," two highly customizable R-based applications, designed with a goal of simplicity, reproducibility, and effectiveness. Ripeline is a pipeline that allows for a continuously updated analysis of multiple DNA markers. Rmanual is a "living book" which allows the creation and continuous update of manuals and checklists. Comparing with more traditional ways of DNA marker analysis and manual preparation, Ripeline and Rmanual allow for a significant reduction of time, which is usually spent doing repetitive tasks. They also provide tools which can be used in a broad spectrum of further applications.