Addgene's Top 10 Blog Posts of 2015

2015 has been an exciting year for the Addgene blog. We’ve released over 80 posts on a diverse array of topics pertinent to the research community, two eBooks (Management for Scientists and the Plasmids 101 2nd ed, the 3rd edition has now been released), and have started providing recorded interviews with Addgene community members. In addition we’ve experienced incredible growth with our readership expanding from ~10,000 users per month in November 2014 to ~30,000 users per month in November 2015.

We will continue to provide you with more fascinating, informative, and actionable content in the coming years as we stay on top of the many developments in science and the plasmids, technologies, and researchers behind them. As part of our thanks to you for being a part of our community, we’ve curated a list of our 10 top-viewed posts from 2015 and encourage you to give them a read if you’ve missed them!

Breakdown of Addgene's top blog posts from 2015

Our most popular posts continue to be those from our Plasmids 101 and CRISPR 101 series. These posts aim to give researchers the background they need to get started using plasmids and the revolutionary CRISPR technology in their own labs. We’re overjoyed to provide you with these fantastic educational resources and will be sure to keep our eyes open for any new technologies that will bring about the next revolution in biological research.

We’re incredibly happy to see that one of our career posts has made it to the top of the list this year. While we love academic research, we hope we can help all researchers achieve happiness in their careers regardless of their end goals and believe the popularity of our career posts shows that we are doing just that.

Do you like the direction the blog has taken over the past year? Do you think there are topics we’re missing? We invite you to suggest topics you’d like to see on the blog or to contribute ideas for your own guest posts by e-mailing us at blog@addgene.org. Thank you again for a fantastic year and happy reading!

Top 10 blog posts of 2015

1. CRISPR 101: Homology Directed Repair

Addgenie Chari Cortez explains some of the basic science behind homology directed repair (HDR) and how it’s used in CRISPR genome editing.

2. Plasmids 101: Cre-lox

Cre recombinase can be used to generate inversions, deletions, and translocations. It also provides researchers with many different ways to control gene expression. Get the full scoop from Addgenie A. Max Juchheim in this post.

3. Plasmids 101: E. coli Strains for Protein Production

Addgenie Julian Taylor-Parker explains why you might want to use a specialized E. coli strain for protein production and gives a quick rundown of some of the strains you can use to express your protein of interest.

4. Plasmids 101: Blue-White Screening

Getting a lot of empty vector contaminants in your cloning experiments and tired of having to PCR many colonies to find a successful clone? Addgenie Jessica Welch explains how Blue-White screening could be a potential solution.

5. Cpf1: A New Tool for CRISPR Genome Engineering

While the vast majority of CRISPR plasmids in our repository use Cas9 to cut DNA, Addgene Science Communications Intern Mary Gearing explains how Cas9 homolog, Cpf1, may make it easier to make gene edits at new genomic locations.

6. CRISPR 101: Non-homologous End Joining

So you know that CRISPR can be used to generate knockouts, but how does it work? Guest contributors David Wyatt and Dale Ramsden from UNC Chapel Hill explain some of the molecular gymnastics behind DNA repair by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).

7. Career Coaching for Scientists: Why and Where Do I Find One?

• If you need help making a transition into a new job or maybe to an entirely new career path, a career coach might be able to help you. Head Addgenie Joanne Kamens explains what career coaches do and offers up some career coach suggestions.

8. A Match Made in Heaven: CRISPR/Cas9 and AAV

Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are useful for in vivo gene delivery, but have limited packaging capacity making them difficult to use with CRISPR as the cargo. Mary Gearing explains some of the clever ways to successfully combine CRISPR and AAVs.

9. CRISPR 101: Validating Your Genome Edit

Once you’ve used CRISPR/Cas9 to make a change to the genome, you need to check whether you’ve made the right one. In this post, Addgenie Melina Fan guides us through the basics of the validation process for CRISPR mediated genome engineering.

10. Plasmids 101: Control Plasmids

Need help thinking about the types of controls you’ll need for your next experiment? In this post, Addgenie Chari Cortez guides us through some common controls and why you might need them.

Happy Reading!

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Resources on the Addgene Blog

• Download the Management for Scientists eBook
• Download the Plasmids 101 3rd Ed. eBook
• Read the Most Recent Plasmids 101, CRISPR 101, and Career Posts

Resources at Addgene

• Browse Our CRISPR Resources
• Learn More about Viral Vectors
• Browse the Repository