c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"my $line = '>CATCATCATCAT';
 ;;
 my $pattern = qr/^>(\w*)/;
 if ($line =~ /$pattern/) {
   my $id = $1;
   print qq{got: '$id'};
   }
"
got: 'CATCATCATCAT'