Summary Molecular inversion probes (MIPs) enable cost-effective multiplex targeted gene resequencing in large cohorts. However, the design of individual MIPs is a critical parameter governing the performance of this technology with respect to capture uniformity and specificity. MIPgen is a user-friendly package that simplifies the process of designing custom MIP assays to arbitrary targets. New logistic and SVM-derived models enable in silico predictions of assay success, and assay redesign exhibits improved coverage uniformity relative to previous methods, which in turn improves the utility of MIPs for cost-effective targeted sequencing for candidate gene validation and for diagnostic sequencing in a clinical setting.

Availability and implementation: MIPgen is implemented in C++. Source code and accompanying Python scripts are available at http://shendurelab.github.io/MIPGEN/ .

Contact:  shendure@uw.edu or boylee@uw.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.