INTRODUCTION p3d was developed in order to offer a Python module that is powerful and fast, yet intuitive to use. The simplicity of p3d is due to the usage of object oriented programming (i.e. atoms are treated as vectors), the implementation of a query parser that translates queries readable by humans into a combination of algebra set operations the fact that no additional Python packages are necessary. The speed is due to the usage of a binary space partitioning (BSP) tree which allows very fast queries in 3D (Henry et al. 1980). The additional synergy is obtained by the flexible combination of both speed and complexity in the queries to the structural data. The combination of these factors makes p3d the optimal module to rapidly develop new and powerful bioinformatic tools that follow the Python philosophy of making the source code readable. For more information please visit http://p3d.fufezan.net or http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/10/258 CITATION Please cite us when using p3d for your publications. Fufezan C., Specht M (2009) p3d, python module for structural bioinformatics. BMC Bioinformatics 10, 258. INSTALLATION python setup.py install (you might need admin privileges to write in the python site-package folder) PARTICIPATE If you like to participate, simply checkout the source code from our git hub at http://github.com/fu/p3d, hack in your changes and submit them to us. DOCUMENTATION For more in depth documentation of the modules and examples, please refer to the wiki pages at http://p3d.fufezan.net (currently offline ... )