Extract text from DNA fragment files (FSA)
To convert FSA sequence files to another format, you need Applied Biosystems Software or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Bioinformatics Data File" file type, you need software like Applied Biosystems Software or a similar tool.
The .FSA file extension primarily represents two distinct scientific formats: a binary DNA fragment analysis data file generated by Applied Biosystems genetic analyzers, or a plain-text FASTA sequence data file used to store DNA, RNA, or protein sequences. Less frequently, it is used as a Fast Stream Archive by browser extensions like Video DownloadHelper or as a zlib-compressed video face alignment data file by AI tools like DeepFaceLab.
Opening the scientific variants depends entirely on the file's structure. Applied Biosystems files contain complex chromatogram data and metadata that require proprietary lab software from Thermo Fisher Scientific, such as Peak Scanner or GeneMapper. Conversely, FASTA-based .FSA files are plain text and can be opened with NCBI BLAST, Geneious, or even standard text editors.
The main disadvantage of the proprietary binary .FSA format is its closed ecosystem. It locks critical peak data, genetic reads, and metadata behind specific software requirements. Users without an expensive license or specialized lab environment struggle to review or share the data with colleagues. Standard viewers cannot render the chromatograms. Even the simpler text-based FASTA versions can become massive, causing regular text editors to crash.
Users typically need to convert binary .FSA fragment data into CSV, XLSX, or TXT to plot the peaks in Python, R, or Excel. Text-based files might need conversion to standard FASTA, SEQ, or ALN formats for broader bioinformatics pipelines.
Because the Applied Biosystems .FSA is a highly specialized binary format, standard online document converters fail entirely. Often, only the original sequencing software can accurately parse and export the precise genetic reads. We can inspect the file, extract embedded metadata, and show text content. If our analysis detects an underlying text-based FASTA sequence or a supported embedded stream, viewing or partial conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your FSA file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted MP4, FASTA, ASF, AXD, TS, VRIMG, PDF, ZIP, FLP, JSXBIN, MKV, KRA and ZST files.
If you want to convert FSA file to MP4, FASTA, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF or DAT, you can use Applied Biosystems Software or similar software from the "DNA Fragment & Sequence Analysis" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to FSA, try Applied Biosystems Software or another comparable tool in the "DNA Fragment & Sequence Analysis" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our FSA converter.