Addgene, the nonprofit biorepository, can now help accelerate scientific discovery even faster through the donation of an Illumina MiSeq from Jane and Mark Hirsh. This allows Addgene to bring quality control in-house, greatly speeding up the sharing of DNA-based tools such as plasmids and viral vectors.

These plasmid and viral tools are widely used to study an array of biological functions in many organisms. Their utility is boosted by confirming the sequence of the DNA before they are sent to researchers so that the researchers know exactly what they are working with.

“Until now we’ve had to outsource this,” says Melina Fan, co-founder and CSO of Addgene. “The donation of the Illumina MiSeq will allow us much better control of scheduling and process development while we continue to provide excellent quality to the scientific community.”

The Hirsh’s have long been a part of Boston’s biotech community. Jane Hirsh is a graduate
of the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy and founded Copley Pharmaceutical
(sold to Teva Pharmaceuticals). Mark Hirsh is a Tufts Dental School graduate, ran a multi-
office dental practice, and was a part-time lecturer at Tufts. Together the Hirsh’s started
Collegium Pharmaceutical and Onset Pharm (sold to Valient). They are active members
of the Tufts University ecosystem and other organizations.

“We are incredibly grateful for the donation and look forward to the tremendous impact
this will bring to scientists,” says Joanne Kamens, Executive Director of Addgene. “The
Hirsh’s had the vision to see that scientists from all around the world will benefit from it.”

About Addgene
Addgene is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating scientific discoveries by operating a plasmid library for researchers. Addgene’s collection contains over 94,000 plasmids contributed by 4,400 research labs from around the world. Addgene also provides more than 540 ready-to-use AAV and lentivirus preparations of commonly requested plasmids as a service to scientists – saving them time and providing thorough quality control. Over 1.3 million plasmids have been distributed to 102 countries by Addgene – with over 750 item requests being fulfilled each day. By authenticating, storing, archiving, and distributing plasmids, virus, and their associated data, Addgene is creating a lasting resource for research and discovery scientists around the world.

For more information, please visit https://www.addgene.org/.

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