Request ID numbers

Request IDs are the unique identifiers assigned to each BLAST search. They allow users to return to searches done previously, rather than having to repeat the search. Request IDs work because NCBI stores results for 24 hours, giving researchers the opportunity to retreive or reformat data, rather than using search capacity for those functions. More info is available in section 6.6 of the "Getting started" (click above for link). For example, copy the following Request ID

RID: 1127311572-2598-156417425331.BLASTQ3

into the "Type in the request ID" window on the "retrieve results" page in the META section at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/