Addgene brings its research-materials catalog into Claude with read-only access

Scientists using Anthropic’s Claude for Life Sciences can now search Addgene’s research-materials catalog without leaving the assistant. Addgene launched the connection on November 5, 2026, bringing its curated plasmid and viral-vector repository into the conversation where researchers may be planning their work. The connector gives Claude read-only access to that catalog.

The integration uses Model Context Protocol, or MCP, to connect Claude with Addgene’s catalog. Users can search the repository, retrieve details about individual items and get GenBank download links for plasmid sequences. That puts both material descriptions and links to sequence files within reach of the same assistant, rather than limiting the connection to a list of search results.

The access boundary is narrow: Claude can read the catalog, not change it. Addgene describes a workflow in which the assistant’s suggestions connect researchers with curated materials they can request directly from Addgene. The connector supplies information for that choice; the materials themselves come from the repository.

More than 177,000Plasmids

Addgene says the connected catalog contains more than 177,000 plasmids.

1,000Ready-to-use viral vectors

The catalog also includes 1,000 ready-to-use viral vectors.

Addgene’s stated reason for building the connector is to put reliable materials closer to the start of research planning. President and Executive Director Chonnettia Jones said scientists increasingly turn to AI to plan their research, making it essential that those tools draw on reliable, well-characterized materials. She framed the integration as a way to connect early research strategy with materials scientists can obtain.

That role builds on Addgene’s existing work curating and distributing quality-controlled research materials. The organization works with academic and industry scientists and describes sharing materials as a way to reduce barriers to research. Its wider offerings include viral vectors and recombinant antibodies, alongside the plasmid repository; this launch specifically connects the plasmid and viral-preparation catalog to Claude.

Addgene describes the intended result as a faster, more reliable path from a research question to laboratory work. That is the organization’s claim for the integration, not a measured performance result: its launch announcement supplies no timing or accuracy comparison.