Collections of plasmids, including empty vectors and those with gene inserts, are an invaluable resource to the research community, saving researchers time and money and thus expediting a variety of biological and biomedical experimental applications. DNASU is a central repository for plasmid sample and data storage (Nucleic Acids Res. 2007 35:D680-4) that distributes the data and samples to researchers worldwide online (http://dnasu.asu.edu).
DNASU currently has a collection 270,000 plasmids with genes from more than 200 organisms that includes clones created by the LaBaer laboratory, human and mouse genes from the ORFeome collaboration, various clones from outside researchers and, most recently, clones created by researchers in the NIGMS-funded Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) after we became the PSI Material Repository (PSI-MR) in 2006. All researchers are invited to submit their own clones to DNASU for distribution to other labs.
Each month, innovative research from the Biodesign Institute appears in the world’s premier scientific journals. Many such studies have graced the covers of these journals, showcasing Biodesign research ranging from water remediation to nanometer-scale structures built from DNA.
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