2023 and 2024: Reflections and Looking Ahead

With renewed energy and optimism that comes at the start of every new year, it is a wonderful opportunity to once again reflect on our achievements in the last year and share the exciting things to come in the new year. I am proud of what we accomplished in 2023 and thrilled to be sharing our plans for 2024. 

In 2023, Addgene distributed 188,729 materials to 39,844 scientists in 88 countries around the world. That included 2008 pooled libraries, 290 antibodies, 18,359 viral items, and 166,247 plasmids. We welcomed 18,899 plasmids, deposited from 1,106 labs in 504 organizations from 37 different countries, into our repository, while expanding global access to our repository through our distributor partners, with the launch of antibodies in China and expansion of viral services available in South Korea. 

In addition, we released the MORF collection, a comprehensive transcription factor library, in lentiviral vectors. At 3500 plasmids, this represents the largest single deposit in our repository and was a three–year project that touched every team at Addgene. As a resource, it will allow scientists around the world to conduct robust investigations into the human transcriptome. The MORF library is only one of 22 libraries, created from 14 deposits, that became available through our repository in 2023. 

In June, we announced a new partnership with the Institute for Protein Innovation (IPI), in which Addgene will distribute recombinant antibodies (rAbs) developed at IPI. The first IPI collection, 31 rAbs targeting integrins, will be released early this year. 

In September, we released the fourth edition of our Plasmids 101 eBook. This updated version of one of our most beloved resources has new content, a new look, and a reorganization of existing content to make it more accessible. Other accessibility updates include a printer-friendly design and alt text on all images. We have also made accessibility updates to our website, which receives 3.8 million visitors each year. 

This year, we are excited to launch our Antibody Data Hub, an open-access repository for antibody validation data. We’ll continue growing our educational resources, with the recent release of the Spanish version of our CRISPR 101 eBook and the upcoming release of the second edition of our Viral Vectors 101 eBook. We’ll also focus on expanding international access to the Addgene repository, partially through work with our distributors in China, Korea, Japan, India, and Brazil. Through an expansion of our export license application service, we’re pleased to announce that we are now able to ship rabies plasmids in our repository to international requestors.   

I would be remiss not to mention that 2024 is an incredibly special year for Addgene: it marks our 20th anniversary. Throughout the year, we’ll be celebrating with stories of innovation and impact made possible by the sharing of tools for research: discovered and developed by our depositors, used by our requestors, and supported by our repository. You can enjoy these stories, and other 20th anniversary celebrations, by checking out our blog, social media, newsletter, and website. 

In the coming months, we’ll also share our work in evolving Addgene’s strategic vision for the future. Over the years, we have benefited from the business rigor and efficiencies typically adopted by for-profit companies, while making use of our nonprofit status to achieve mission-driven goals of accelerating research and discovery by improving access to useful research materials and information. We will pursue opportunities to build on our strengths that have successfully served the scientific community for the past twenty years while seizing new opportunities to create even greater value for the scientific community.

As the executive director of Addgene, it is my privilege to uphold the values that shape Addgene’s mission and work. Part of our strategic work involved reflections on diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging at Addgene and in the broader scientific community. In 2024, we will be actively seeking ways to implement these values in everything we do, striving to create a global community where every researcher feels both welcomed and resourced for success. I invite you to join me here, and on my LinkedIn page, as I share reflections throughout 2024 on Addgene’s work, mission, and values. I welcome feedback and commentary from our diverse community, which I truly believe we can only serve through active conversation and collaboration. 

Wishing you a healthy, productive, and thriving 2024, mirroring our own aspirations for Addgene. On behalf of every Addgenie, thank you for twenty years of incredible success, and for believing, as we do, that sharing speeds science. 

This year, Chonnettia will be sharing more of her perspective on Addgene through her LinkedIn page. She invites you to connect with her there.

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More on the Addgene blog

2022 and 2023: Reflections and Looking Forward