bwa ☆
« Back to VersTracker
Description:
Burrow-Wheeler Aligner for pairwise alignment of DNA
Type: Formula  |  Latest Version: 0.7.19@0  |  Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Other
Tags: bioinformatics genomics dna-sequencing alignment scientific-computing
Install: brew install bwa
About:
BWA is a high-performance software package for mapping low-divergent sequences against a large reference genome, such as the human genome. It implements the Burrows-Wheeler Alignment algorithm, which is highly efficient for short-read sequencing data. This tool is a foundational component in many genomics pipelines for tasks like variant calling and transcriptome analysis.
Key Features:
  • Implements the Burrows-Wheeler Alignment algorithm for memory-efficient mapping
  • Supports both short and long reads with high accuracy
  • Includes three alignment algorithms: BWA-backtrack, BWA-SW, and BWA-MEM
  • Fast and highly optimized for modern multi-core processors
Use Cases:
  • Aligning short DNA sequences from Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) experiments to a reference genome
  • Preparing sequencing data for downstream analysis like variant discovery or expression profiling
  • Mapping long reads from technologies like PacBio or Oxford Nanopore
Alternatives:
  • Bowtie2 – Bowtie2 is another ultrafast, memory-efficient aligner, often preferred for its sensitivity in gapped alignment.
  • minimap2 – minimap2 is a versatile aligner specifically designed for long reads and noisy sequences, often outperforming BWA-MEM in those domains.
License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND MIT
Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
« Back to VersTracker  |  Browse Packages  |  About