DbW is a new system for the automatic update of functional family-specific multiple sequence alignments. The program performs in-depth database searches and uses two different sources of information: sequences and annotations, to reliably integrate related sequences into a previously constructed family alignment. Unrelated sequences are automatically detected by a novel filtering method and excluded from the final multiple alignment. 

The final alignment is regularly updated and sent by e-mail to the user every month. 

Keywords specific to the family are also determined in a text-mining and analysis step.