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Your next cool experiment requires some AAV.  Where do you start? Plasmids of course! You just need three plasmids to start making the AAVs you need for your experiment: 

1. the packaging plasmid which contains the AAV structural and packaging genes,
2. the adenoviral helper plasmid which contains the proteins needed for the virus to replicate, 
3. and the transfer plasmid which contains the viral genome.

In today’s blog post, we’ll focus on the packaging plasmid and take a look at each of its parts.

We’ve finally reached the end of 2020 and that means it’s time for our annual Deck The Lab holiday decorating contest! If you’re selected as a winner, you’ll receive a winter care package from Addgene. 

This year, there’s a twist. Because of COVID-19, we’re giving you the option to decorate the lab if you can do so safely, or you can decorate at home. 

This post was contributed by guest blogger, Rachel Rubinstein, a field-based software product manager at Oxford Nanopore Technologies.

If the first thing you hear when someone says they’re a software product manager is “project manager,” you’re not alone. A few years ago when I started my career transition from bench science to software product management, I confess that I had no idea what software product management was either. Coming from a strong background of undergraduate research straight to a lab career at a biotech company, I always assumed I’d work one or two years at the company and then go to grad school.

However, about a year and a half into my role, I realized that actually, I didn’t want to go to grad school. But, I didn’t know what else to do. Fortunately, the head of software product management at my company was open to meeting with me and explaining more of her role, which eventually led me to transfer to her team and begin my product management (PM) career. Had I known about product management earlier on in my career, I’d have realized it was a great fit for my skillset and interests. As such, I want to be able to share more about this nontraditional career path for others who love science, but realize that the bench isn’t where they will be happiest.

The Rett Syndrome Research Trust (RSRT) has an ambitious goal of curing Rett Syndrome and Addgene is thrilled to partner with them to launch a Rett Syndrome Plasmid Collection and Resource Center for Rett Syndrome research. With a shared passion for facilitating research and discovery, Addgene and RSRT have consolidated and centralized a collection of molecular biology tools so that both veteran and new Rett researchers can find the reagents and resources they need to cure Rett Syndrome. 

If you’re new to Rett Syndrome, this blog post describes the history of Rett Syndrome research, the role of the MECP2 gene, and highlights some of the latest breakthrough therapeutic approaches.

Mark your calendars for November 16-20, 2020 for #DepositorWeek on Twitter! 

That’s today through Friday.

There will be trivia, prizes, and more!

We wanted to take a week to celebrate the scientists who make a big impact in open science. Depositors consistently contribute to our collection so that we can offer the scientific community the latest and greatest plasmid tools! Thank you depositors!