University Libraries currently subscribes to SciFinder, a Chemical Abstract Services (CAS) database. CAS is in the process of replacing SciFinder with SciFinder-n. Much of the information in SciFinder-n will remain the same – indexing of the chemical literature, chemical substances and reactions, the ability to search by structure and substructures, chemical suppliers and retrosynthesis planners.
New to SciFinder-n is the ability to search using BLAST for nucleic acid and protein sequences, query of CDR for antibody and t-cell receptors and searching by nucleic acid or protein motifs. References pertaining to the query sequences as well as relevant patent information can be obtained.
SciFinder-n is accessible on the databases page on the Harrell Health Sciences Library website. Users must be on the Penn State or Penn State College of Medicine VPN and create a CAS login to use the SciFinder-n product. The SciFinder login will also work with SciFinder-n. It is anticipated that the original SciFinder product will be turned off later this year.