Addgene Blog: A Better Way to Share Science

Melina Fan

Melina is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Addgene. She received her PhD from Harvard University studying diabetes and obesity. She is dedicated to improving the infrastructure for research and discovery and is passionate about science, education, and entrepreneurship.

Blog articles by Melina Fan

Antibodies

Addgene Begins Distribution of Recombinant Antibodies

Melina Fan March 28, 2022

Addgene is thrilled to announce the launch of our latest community resource: Recombinant Antibodies! In addition to plasmids and viral vectors, you’ll now be able to order ready-to-use antibodies for your experiments directly from Addgene.

Addgene News

Addgene Receives NIH BRAIN Initiative Grant to Create Open-Access Recombinant Antibody Resource

Melina Fan May 25, 2021

Would you buy and use a plasmid if it didn’t include any plasmid sequence data? Of course not. Unfortunately, the vast majority of antibodies are supplied with no sequence information, leading to problems with reproducibility and an inability to improve upon these critical ...

Antibodies

Plasmid-based Recombinant Monoclonal Antibodies: What They Are and Why You Should Be Excited About Them

Melina Fan May 4, 2021

If you were born before 1985, you might remember going to the store and buying CDs when you wanted to hear a piece of music. It was tough to share or remix the songs, the CDs could get scratched over time, and it was difficult to keep track of growing collections of music. I ...

Comparison schematic between polyclonal antibodies, monoclonal antibodies, and recombinant monoclonal antibodies

Viral Vectors

Find and Share AAV Data with Addgene's New AAV Data Hub

Melina Fan October 8, 2019

Dear scientists using AAV, We hear your questions! How much virus should I inject? How long do I need to wait? What serotype and promoter should I use to target my favorite neurons? We don’t know all of the answers, but we’re betting that your colleagues do. That’s why we’re ...

Plasmids 101

Plasmids 101: Multicistronic Vectors

Melina Fan September 9, 2014

Co-expression of multiple genes is valuable in many experimental settings. To achieve this, scientists use a multitude of techniques including co-transfection of two or more plasmids, the use of multiple or bidirectional promoters, or the creation of bicistronic or ...

Molecular Biology Protocols and Tips

Save Time and Money by Making Your Own Competent Cells

Melina Fan January 28, 2014

We perform over 100 transformations each week at Addgene, so we need to be cost and time efficient. We do this by making our own competent cells and using a little-known reagent for streamlining the transformation step. Read on to find protocols and tips that you can use in your ...

Addgene News

The 10 Most Distributed Plasmid Technologies in Addgene's First 10 Years

Melina Fan January 8, 2014

Addgene was founded 10 years ago today. In that time, Addgene has shipped over 350,000 individual plasmids to 5,000 different research institutions. This has given us a unique window into technology trends in the life sciences. In this post, we'll give you an inside look at the ...

Fun at Addgene

From our Table to Yours: An Inside Look at Lunch at Addgene

Melina Fan November 27, 2013

Right from the start, when we founded Addgene nearly 10 years ago, lunch felt like a family meal. My co-founders actually were my family (Kenneth Fan is my brother and Benjie Chen is my husband), and we were joined by Judy Tsai, a friend from graduate school. The four of us ...