Addgene

By Baiyang Liu and James Chappell, Rice University. For decades, we’ve been designing experiments around two major limitations of plasmids: copy number and incompatibility. While functional, such workarounds are clunky. To address this, we created a synthetic origin of replication (ORI) that allows us to modify the plasmid instead of the experiment.

By Balázs Csoma, Hungarian Research Network CRISPR nucleases are remarkably precise molecular tools for cutting DNA. But “remarkably precise” does not mean “perfectly specific.” In reality, CRISPR nucleases occasionally make mistakes and cleave DNA sequences that only resemble the intended target. These unintended cuts cause the dreaded off-target effects that can wreck experiments and, in clinic…

Deaminet 2026, held in Palm Springs in late January, brought together researchers studying deaminase enzymes across disciplines: from structural biologists resolving APOBEC proteins at atomic resolution, to cancer biologists dissecting mutational processes, to medical researchers advancing base and prime editing toward the clinic. Across talks spanning mechanism, off-target biology, and in vivo d…

Do you have a green thumb — or, perhaps, are you one of those people who kills every plant they touch? The whole trouble with houseplants is they can’t bark, meow, or cry when they need something. But what if we could equip plants with a way to warn us about concerning growing conditions?

Every few months we highlight some of the new plasmids, antibodies, viral preps, and more in the repository through our Hot Plasmids articles . This month, check out hot new AAV packaging plasmids, CRISPR libraries, and more!

As 2025 closed, we received a request that perfectly embodies why Addgene exists: a researcher in Laos needed a unique set of plasmids to advance their research. Thanks to five different labs across the U.S. who deposited their plasmids with Addgene to share with the rest of the world, the plasmids arrived in the researcher’s lab in under two weeks, making Laos the 112 th country that we support.…

The genome-editing tool CRISPR is famously RNA-guided... except when it’s not. Turns out, carefully designed RNA-DNA hybrid strands work just as well—or maybe even better—at guiding Cas nucleases to specific genomic targets.

Throughout its 20-year history, Addgene’s mission has been to empower scientists to advance discoveries by reducing barriers, facilitating access to high-quality research materials, tools, and resources, while also fostering scientific collaboration. The first request through Addgene in 2004 allowed the transfer of a plasmid between two academic laboratories. While Addgene is well known for facil…

Who doesn’t love a library? A traditional library might contain thousands or millions of different books. Addgene’s pooled libraries are a little different: each is a collection of plasmids that share the same backbone and differ only in a small region. This makes them useful for a wide variety of high-throughput experiments.

Every few months we highlight some of the new plasmids, antibodies, viral preps, and more in the repository through our Hot Plasmids articles .

This post was written by Professor Mark Howarth, investigator at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on protein innovations for therapeutic and vaccine design. We all want tools that expand what we can achieve, but are simple to pick up and work well the first time. But biology is complicated — so many different parts and species, with components quickly losing activity. I set out t…

Studying proteins in their natural context is one of the biggest challenges in biology. From tumor suppressors to growth factors, some of the most clinically-relevant proteins are also the hardest to study. One common strategy is protein overexpression — boosting levels so interactions aren't missed. But this often yields results that don't reflect true biology. Fluorescent fusions utilizing bulk…

This post was written by Abhi Aggarwal, from University of Calgary. Over the past few decades, genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) have become a vital tool in neuroscience research. These fluorescent proteins light up in response to calcium, which is more than just the stuff that makes bones strong; it plays critical roles in nerve and muscle function, hormone release, and cell signali…

For most people, the most familiar source of bioluminescence is the firefly. Along with charming nighttime displays, these insects have contributed an important tool to the scientific community: luciferases, which have become common genetic reporters and alternatives to fluorescent proteins. The North American firefly, Photinus pyralis, catalyzes a chemical reaction in its abdomen to produce yell…

Previously, we provided a general overview of the QC process at Addgene. All plasmids go through this same initial QC process using an Illumina MiSeq, but that’s not the only technology Addgene uses to ensure accuracy of deposited plasmids. To resolve QC issues, assembly issues, and difficult-to-sequence plasmids, other sequencing and bioinformatic technologies are used. Improvements to sequencin…

You have just purified your plasmid and are ready to move on to your downstream application — but wait! Do you know how much plasmid DNA you have or how pure your sample really is? To assess the concentration and purity of nucleic acids, such as plasmids, the go-to method is to use spectrophotometry. Microvolume spectrophotometers make it quick and easy to measure sample concentration and purity …

We all know the timeline for publishing research papers can be long and unpredictable. Fortunately, you can submit plasmids at any point in that process and we provide an option to keep your deposit on hold from public access until the article is published. This policy gives us time to complete necessary quality control and legal approvals so the plasmids are ready for distribution as soon as the…

An oldie but a goodie — a phrase used to refer to something that has fallen out of fashion but is still useful and most importantly, effective. In the research world, there is a myriad of tools this could be applied to. When it comes to altering gene expression, CRISPR technologies have gradually taken over as the preferred method for many labs. However, RNA interference (RNAi) remains steadfast …

CoPurifying plasmid DNA from bacterial cultures is a core protocol in molecular biology. And while kit-free plasmid purification is always an option, let’s be honest — kits are quick, easy, and don’t involve phenol-chloroform. The default option is to use the kit that is already available in your lab or the one you are most familiar with. And, hey — if something is working for you, then there is …

I fell in love with biology because of an image that was honestly quite boring. My Bio 101 professor displayed a codon table — a chart every molecular biologist has seen before, showing how DNA sequences are translated into amino acids. And I was astonished that the molecular language shared by every living thing fit onto a single lecture slide. That shared language is the basis of shuttle vector…