Abcam
Abcam的目標
“...是給世界上最好的抗體建立最大的在線目錄”
Abcam的科學家致力于建立世界上最好抗體的目錄。
Abcam生產自己的抗體,同時也提供其他來自大學,學術實驗室,以及各大主要生產廠商的優秀抗體。
Abcam為所有產品提供技術支持來使您獲得預期的結果。
Abcam成立于1998,始于劍橋大學。
抗體,冰桶及莫莉羊:Abcam背后的故事
Abcam的概念萌芽于英國劍橋的一個實驗室里。一九九八年, 主要創立人Jonathan Milner在Tony Kouzarides教授的實驗室當博士后, 研究當時新發現的乳腺癌蛋白BRCA2。但因為找不到質量高及附有可靠、詳細、最新資料的抗體,令這項研究工作受到阻延 。就在大家正感到沮喪之時, Jonathan和實驗室同事提出一個構思: 成立一間了解科學研究人員需要的網上抗體銷售公司。Tony更將antibody(ab) 和Cambridge(Cam) 兩個英文字合拼, 將公司取名為Abcam。
Abcam當時的理念是Abcam銷售質量高的抗體,并提供最全面、誠實、時新的說明書, 快速的送貨服務,及高效率的顧客和技術支持服務。
很幸運地, 這個構思得到電信企業家David Cleevely的支持及注資。一九九八年的夏天, Jonathan離開學術研究界, 憑著再抵押自已的房子的錢, 及從家人朋友和David Cleevely得來的資金, 全職發展Abcam, Jonathan形容此決定為他最冒險的決定。 Abcam終于成立, 但當時公司仍然須要籌集更大量的資金來建立網站及增加Abcam 抗體的生產量。因此Abcam成立初年, 公司董事們不斷四出向風險資本推銷公司的理念及游說他們注資。
由于當時Abcam的前景很暗淡, Abcam很須要在短時間內做出銷售額來, 于是Jonathan便拿著一個放滿Abcam抗體的冰桶,親身到劍橋大學的實驗, 向朋友及同事推銷。幸好,他們對Abcam的抗體很支持, 紛紛購買。Abcam的抗體銷售傳奇就由這一個微不顯眼的冰桶開始!
到了千禧年, Abcam出現兩個突破, 令公司業務起飛。
第一個突破是Abcam得到了劍橋本地商業天使群體支持及注資; 第二個突破是Abcam開始招募一些擁有共同理念的科學家及有才華的精英們加入, 形成現在管理層的雛型。Abcam這個成功的發展,有賴于我們堅定的信念, 深信我們的商業計劃是可建立一間既能對自然科學研究有所供獻,又能賺錢的公司。 有很多科學研究員曾問莫莉羊的構思是從那里來的。其實很簡單,因為克隆羊多莉當時成了矚目的新聞標題,因此我們就用分子空問填充模型作為身體,用抗體作為腿,而這個分子多莉羊就成了莫莉羊!
Abcam is on a mission
"...to build the largest online catalog of the best antibodies in the world"
Abcam supplies the best products...
We make our own antibodies as well as sourcing other excellent products from a variety of suppliers. This means we are able to add 600-800 new products every month and ensures we bring customers the very best products available regardless of source.
Our products cover research areas such as Cancer, Cardiovascular, Chromatin and Nuclear Signaling, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Stem Cells, and includes a growing range of non-primary antibody products such as secondary antibodies, kits, proteins, peptides, and lysates.
...and provides the best service
Whether you buy online, by telephone, or fax, we want you to have the best experience from beginning to end. Our online search facility shows what we offer across all our product ranges, and our comprehensive datasheets provide you with all the essential information you need to make that import ant decision. We know information about applications and species, and supporting data such as references, images and reviews are crucial for you to find the right product, so as soon as we know something new about one of our products, we update our online datasheet.
We provide expert scientific support for all of our products to enable you to achieve the result you should expect (we have over 40 PhDs in-house to answer your queries). We guarantee that all products will work as described on our datasheets, or we will give you a replacement or refund.
We ship all around the world from our offices in the UK, US, Japan and Hong Kong, with next day delivery to most of Europe and North America. If, for any reason, an item is not in stock, we will keep you informed of your order and aim to get it to you as quickly as possible.
Antibodies, Ice-Buckets and Molly the Sheep - the Story behind Abcam
The idea for Abcam came early in 1998 out of a laboratory in the University of Cambridge, UK. The principal founder Jonathan Milner was working as a Post-Doctoral researcher studying the newly discovered breast cancer protein BRCA2 in Professor Tony Kouzarides laboratory. The project slowed because of problems finding quality antibody reagents that had honest and up to date information about their uses and limitations. It was frustrating. It was then that Jonathan and a number of other people in the laboratory, came up with the idea for a web-based antibody company of like-minded scientists. Tony invented the name which is a hybrid of antibody (ab) and Cambridge (cam). The idea was that Abcam would sell the best antibodies in the world with the most comprehensive, honest and up-to-date datasheets, fast delivery and helpful customer service & technical support. It was a tough vision!
A lucky break came when Jonathan met and discussed the idea with Dr David Cleevely (a Cambridge telecoms entrepreneur) who was smart (or some said crazy!) enough to join him in the venture. So in the summer of 1998, Jonathan left the world of academia to work full-time on Abcam, which he describes as the scariest thing he has ever done. Initially Abcam had a small amount of money from David, family, friends and Jonathan (after re-mortgaging his house; he has a very understanding wife!), but they realized that they needed a big injection of capital to build a website to accomplish the vision and increase production of Abcams own antibodies. A business plan was written and the Directors went out confidently to raise money from venture capitalists. However, the next couple of years were really tough as Abcam struggled to convince the VCs that a viable business could be built from such an idealistic vision.
Things were looking really bleak and Abcam needed to get some sales quickly, so Jonathan took an ice-bucket full of popular antibodies around the University of Cambridge laboratories in order to get friends and colleagues to buy them, which they did (thanks guys!). Hence the legend of Abcams humble beginnings from an ice-bucket was born!
Our first notable successes arrived in the early part of the new millenium: Chromatin antibodies, loading control antibodies and GFP antibodies. Then we had two further lucky breaks. First, some local business angels (people from the Cambridge business community who wish to help technology businesses get started) were convinced to invest and second, some like-minded scientists and talented individuals were recruited (who form the basis of Abcams management team today) and this succeeded in boot-strapping the company through those difficult times. Of course there was also tremendous determination to prove that those venture capitalists were wrong and that a successful profitable company, that would also make a valuable contribution to life science researchers, could be built on such a business plan.
A lot of researchers ask where we got the idea for Molly the sheep. It was simply because Dolly the sheep was making headline news at the time, so we created the body out of a molecular space fill model and gave her antibody legs, and thus the molecular Dolly became Abcams Molly.
If you are one of the many scientists that now buy from Abcam and use the website, we would like to know what you think: Are we polite and friendly? Do our products work as you would expect? Was the website useful? How could we do better? You can contact us with your comments and we look forward to hearing from you.
Abcam的產品 :http:**禁發網址bioleaf禁發網址/abcam/