The availability of sequences of entire genomes has dramatically increased the number of protein targets, many of which will need to be overexpressed in cells other than where they have been identified originally. Gene synthesis often provides a fast and economically efficient approach. The synthetic gene can be optimized for expression and constructed for easy mutational manipulation without regard for the parent genome. Yet design and construction of synthetic genes, especially those coding for large proteins, can be a slow, difficult, and confusing process. DNAWorks automates the design of oligonucleotides for gene synthesis by PCR-based methods.