How Addgene sends plasmids - physical formats by country

Nucleus
1

I mentioned at the recent Reclone Community Meeting that I would come up with a resource that showed how Addgene ships plasmids to different countries. Though I have a CSV file breaking this down, that’s probably over kill. I can summarize the results quickly here.

Briefly, we ship plasmids in three different formats:

  1. Bacterial stab: Stabs are the least expensive means for us to ship plasmids, therefore we will always defer to them if they are a viable option. They can occasionally be problematic, especially when shipping to extremely cold or extremely hot climates. We sometimes experience sample loss, but it is relatively low by volume. The vast majority of the >110 countries that have ordered plasmids from Addgene receive bacterial stabs.

  2. DNA tube: Some countries have very stringent GMO regulations and consider transformed bacteria GMOs, making it difficult to get bacterial stabs through customs. Some of these countries get plasmid DNA suspended in a small volume of buffer. We default to DNA in liquid when we can because scientists report easier recoverability. The countries that receive plasmids in this format are: Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

  3. DNA filter paper: Some countries have strict GMO laws and/or cannot easily get anything in a liquid format through customs. They receive plasmid DNA spotted on filter paper. This format is the most time consuming and has the lowest reported recoverability, so we only use it for countries in which the other options have proven nonviable. The following countries fall under this category:

    • Argentina

    • Kazakhstan

    • Mexico

    • Ukraine

    • Russian Federation (note that Addgene has not shipped to Russia since 2022 due to sanctions)

I hope this information is helpful to some of you! Please let me know if you have any questions or if anything is unclear.

–Eric Perkins
Senior Director of Operational Transformation
Addgene

5 Likes
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Thank you so much for sharing!

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Greetings Eric,

One thing that I would like to ask is if you can send filter paper embedded DNA on demand to, let’s say, Turkey?

Also, in your filter paper based deliveries, do you send it via an envelope? Rather than having some kind of package that goes through customs?

Sincerely,

Cihan

4

Hi Cihan,

Hi Cihan,

Unfortunately, we cannot currently send DNA on filter paper by request. Since this is one of the most expensive ways for Addgene to ship plasmids, we only use it when absolutely necessary. It’s not that filter paper is expensive, but this method requires the most employee time. We always try to operate at cost, but we are technically losing money on these types of shipments, which is why we consider them a last resort.

And yes, we ship these samples in envelopes.
–Eric