Multiple Sequence Alignment Of Normal Text

Question

[Timtico]

Hello,

I am interested in performing a kind of multiple sequence alignment using normal text. Lets say an array consisting of strings of 10 sentences each. Does anyone know of such kind a tool? I prefer Perl or R

[Michael Schubert]

You could implement the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm and extend the substitution matrix to an arbitrary alphabet (should be doable in 1-10 hours, depending on your skill level).

Answer 1

[Zev.Kronenberg]

This may be useful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance

[Timtico]

Thanks, the R biostrings lib contains an implementation of the levenstein algorithm, but what im looking for goes futher than calculating distances.

[Zev.Kronenberg]

Maybe you could edit your question to tell us why/what goes beyond a distance metric?