Whitehead Institute, 455 Main St, Cambridge, MA 02142, US

HistoryAddgene was founded as a nonprofit resource for scientists to share plasmids and expedite discoveries by Dr. Melina Fan, a cell biologist, Dr. Benjie Chen, a software engineer, and Kenneth Fan, with business and finance experience. The idea came from difficulties that Dr. Fan encountered when requesting plasmids from other labs during her graduate studies. After speaking to several Principal Investigators it became clear that labs were not sending materials because of logistical rather than philosophical hurdles. Turnover of lab members made it difficult to locate plasmids and data, and managing shipments took time away from busy schedules. When Addgene opened its (freezer) doors in 2004, the scientific community embraced the resource and began sharing materials. Since then, over 4,000 labs from around the world have deposited over 65,000 unique plasmids for use in a variety of research applications. In turn, we've fulfilled over 1 million requests from labs all over the world.SpecialtiesAddgene is a nonprofit plasmid repository located in Watertown, MA. Addgene's mission is to accelerate research and discovery by improving access to useful research materials and information. Addgene facilitates the sharing of high-quality scientific materials, research reproducibility, and open science by archiving and distributing DNA-based research reagents and associated data to scientists worldwide. Addgene's repository contains over 65,000 plasmids, including special collections on CRISPR, fluorescent proteins, and ready-to-use viral preparations. Addgene offers free online educational resources and protocols about molecular biology such as common vector backbones, cloning, CRISPR, and AAV and lentiviral plasmids.