▁alternative ▁to ▁B LA ST ▁for ▁comparing ▁two ▁banks ▁of ▁sequences ▁is ▁P LA ST . ▁P LA ST ▁provides ▁a ▁high - per formance ▁general ▁purpose ▁bank ▁to ▁bank ▁sequence ▁similarity ▁search ▁tool ▁re lying ▁on ▁the ▁P LA ST ▁and ▁OR IS ▁algorithms . ▁Results ▁of ▁P LA ST ▁are ▁very ▁similar ▁to ▁B LA ST , ▁but ▁P LA ST ▁is ▁significantly ▁faster ▁and ▁capable ▁of ▁comparing ▁large ▁sets ▁of ▁sequences ▁with ▁a ▁small ▁memory ▁( i . e . ▁RAM ) ▁foot print . ▁ ▁For ▁applications ▁in ▁met agen om ics , ▁where ▁the ▁task ▁is ▁to ▁compare ▁bill ions ▁of ▁short ▁DNA ▁reads ▁against ▁tens ▁of ▁millions ▁of ▁protein ▁references , ▁DI AM ON D ▁runs ▁at ▁up ▁to ▁ 2 0 , 0 0 0 ▁times ▁as ▁fast ▁as ▁B LA ST X , ▁while ▁maintain ing ▁a ▁high ▁level ▁of ▁sens itivity . ▁ ▁The ▁open - source ▁software ▁MM seq s ▁is ▁an ▁alternative ▁to ▁B LA ST / P SI - B LA ST , ▁which ▁impro ves ▁on ▁current ▁search ▁tools ▁over ▁the ▁full ▁range ▁of ▁speed - sens itivity ▁trade - off , ▁ach ieving ▁sens it iv ities ▁better ▁than ▁P SI - B LA ST ▁at ▁more ▁than ▁ 4 0 0 ▁times ▁its ▁speed . ▁ ▁Opt ical ▁computing ▁approaches ▁have ▁been ▁suggested ▁as ▁prom ising ▁alternatives ▁to ▁the ▁current ▁elect rical ▁implementations . ▁Opt C AM ▁is ▁an ▁example ▁of ▁such ▁approaches ▁and ▁is ▁shown ▁to ▁be