Does NEB send to private individuals?

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Towa

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Aug 18, 2016, 11:38:41 AM8/18/16
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Does anyone know if New England Biolabs ship to individuals? thanks!

BioMaster

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Aug 18, 2016, 10:58:12 PM8/18/16
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NEB doesn't ship to individuals in US, like almost all suppliers. The only solution seems to set up a business in order to purchase reagents. Or does anyone know a good source to get wetware, plasmids (addgene also doesn't serve individuals), enzymes, primers, oligonucleotides, etc. as a DIY home lab?

Towa

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Aug 19, 2016, 9:47:08 AM8/19/16
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The Odin has a lot of the things to get started, but I wanted to play with pUC18/19 and higher fidelity polymerases. Thermo Fischer and Bio-Rad won't ship to homes either?

BioMaster

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Aug 19, 2016, 8:44:43 PM8/19/16
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If you are luck with Bio-Rad you can order the education kit, but you have to prove that you have a home school program etc. And then you are ONLY allowed to order the education kits which isn't much. I was able to get my account approved at Thermo Fischer, but I haven't ordered anything yet, so don't know if it works. Odin is o.k. if you get started, but if you need more advanced stuff like plasmids, restriction enzymes, DNA oligos it get's difficult. 

For normal reagents (no plasmids) I can recommend BioBasic. They ship to individuals and are very affordable. 

The best sources for plasmids as far as I can see are addgene and Harward medical school,  but both only ship to research institutes or non-profit organisations. 

If anyone knows a non-profit over which DIY biologist can order plasmids from addgene or can suggest a company with a large yeast cell / e.coli vector repository which sells to individuals or at least businesses please let us know. Setting up a business is already hard, but on top of it to set up a non-profit organisation only to order plasmids, that would be such a pain.   

Towa

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Aug 19, 2016, 9:16:19 PM8/19/16
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thanks for pointing me to BioBasic! They have the Pfu polymerase which I guess is a bit better than Taq. I might go for it if I have no other choice. How did you convince ThermoFisher to give you an acount? 

Rikke Rasmussen

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Aug 20, 2016, 12:17:57 AM8/20/16
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Try reaching out to the Odin - they're super helpful, and may be able to source non-listed items for you?

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Towa

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Aug 20, 2016, 10:32:30 AM8/20/16
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I actually just sent them an email :) 
I guess another way is BioMaster's approach: see if there are local bio hack groups who are able to make these purchases for their group. Anyone in Massachusetts/New England area?


On Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 12:17:57 AM UTC-4, Rikke wrote:

Try reaching out to the Odin - they're super helpful, and may be able to source non-listed items for you?

On Aug 19, 2016 6:16 PM, "Towa" <tow...@gmail.com> wrote:
thanks for pointing me to BioBasic! They have the Pfu polymerase which I guess is a bit better than Taq. I might go for it if I have no other choice. How did you convince ThermoFisher to give you an acount? 



On Friday, August 19, 2016 at 8:44:43 PM UTC-4, BioMaster wrote:
If you are luck with Bio-Rad you can order the education kit, but you have to prove that you have a home school program etc. And then you are ONLY allowed to order the education kits which isn't much. I was able to get my account approved at Thermo Fischer, but I haven't ordered anything yet, so don't know if it works. Odin is o.k. if you get started, but if you need more advanced stuff like plasmids, restriction enzymes, DNA oligos it get's difficult. 

For normal reagents (no plasmids) I can recommend BioBasic. They ship to individuals and are very affordable. 

The best sources for plasmids as far as I can see are addgene and Harward medical school,  but both only ship to research institutes or non-profit organisations. 

If anyone knows a non-profit over which DIY biologist can order plasmids from addgene or can suggest a company with a large yeast cell / e.coli vector repository which sells to individuals or at least businesses please let us know. Setting up a business is already hard, but on top of it to set up a non-profit organisation only to order plasmids, that would be such a pain.   


Am Freitag, 19. August 2016 09:47:08 UTC-4 schrieb Towa:
The Odin has a lot of the things to get started, but I wanted to play with pUC18/19 and higher fidelity polymerases. Thermo Fischer and Bio-Rad won't ship to homes either?


On Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 10:58:12 PM UTC-4, BioMaster wrote:
NEB doesn't ship to individuals in US, like almost all suppliers. The only solution seems to set up a business in order to purchase reagents. Or does anyone know a good source to get wetware, plasmids (addgene also doesn't serve individuals), enzymes, primers, oligonucleotides, etc. as a DIY home lab?

Am Donnerstag, 18. August 2016 11:38:41 UTC-4 schrieb Towa:
Does anyone know if New England Biolabs ship to individuals? thanks!

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BioMaster

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Aug 20, 2016, 1:36:24 PM8/20/16
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I was just honest with Thermo Fisher and got approved. But as I said, I haven't placed a purchase order yet. Please correct me if I am wrong, but the biggest problem I see is ordering the plasmids. There are so many DNA synthesising companies, that we could find one that deliver oligos to individuals, but the biggest and cheapest supplier of plasmids is addgene and they only serve academia or non-profit. I have reached out to a DIY lab in the area and hope that I can order at least the plasmids over them. The-Odin as far as I can see is not a non-profit, so they also will not be able to place an order with addgene and Harvard Medical. 

BioMaster

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Aug 20, 2016, 1:44:15 PM8/20/16
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P.S. I reached out to the community lab BosLab in Boston. I will ask them to establish a basic membership, something cheaper than the normal membership and in return to be able to place orders. They are a non-profit so they would be able to order plasmids over addgene. 

Towa

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Aug 20, 2016, 2:15:22 PM8/20/16
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If they agree to it, that would be awesome. I was thinking of attending some of their events anyways so if it works out, even better! Thanks for contacting them!

Mega [Andreas Stuermer]

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Aug 20, 2016, 5:39:09 PM8/20/16
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Trying NEB is completely pointless. Even if you order it from your company, they still don't ship to residential addresses. Company policy. Because you might still be a terrorist when you set up a company. But if you have set up an official lab, that proofs you are not. 

BioMaster

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Aug 20, 2016, 8:37:43 PM8/20/16
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I wrote BosLab before I saw your thread, so if you like you can ask them too. Maybe it helps when they see that there is a bigger demand. 

Jeebus 420

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Aug 22, 2016, 1:52:51 PM8/22/16
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Addgene plasmids are covered by MTAs.
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