From Bench to Worldwide: How Addgene Built a Global Resource for Material Sharing

Abstract

While advancements in informational technologies have provided nearly instant access to scientific data and information, ready and available access to research materials remains a problem for many in the research community. Issues such as a lack of lab resources or the loss of published materials can create practical impediments to sharing, while in other cases, prolonged legal negotiations over the sharing terms can create administrative ones. Addgene’s founders set out to create an effective platform that would address these issues to make sharing easier between scientists. Like many startups and nonprofit organizations, Addgene faced many hurdles such as community adoption and financial stability. However, Addgene’s commitment to its mission and its perseverance eventually led to the widespread adoption of Addgene’s services by the research community. By delivering an efficient, streamlined process for scientists and their technology transfer offices, the research community has since come to view Addgene as a trusted and vital research resource and one that continues to hone its efforts in making it easier for scientists to share their research materials. Keywords: material transfer agreements, MTA, plasmids, sharing, repository, nonprofit, self sustainable, efficient systems, uniform biological material transfer agreement, UBMTA.