About SnapGene

Made by Scientists for Scientists

SnapGene provides the easiest and most secure way to plan, visualize, and document your everyday molecular biology procedures. That’s why scientists at leading institutions and companies around the globe depend on SnapGene every day.

Our Story

As the PI of an academic lab, Ben Glick was frustrated by the huge amount of effort being wasted during cloning. Researchers made avoidable mistakes when planning their cloning procedures, and records of cloning procedures were incomplete. In the 21st century, many molecular biologists still didn’t know the full properties of the DNA molecules they were using.

He also perceived the solution: good software. If molecular biology software were easier to use than pen and paper, researchers would naturally plan their cloning procedures with computers, and electronic records could be automatically produced.

To achieve this goal, he brought together a group of scientists, software engineers, usability experts, and product developers. The company won Phase I and II SBIR grants from the NIH to develop SnapGene. Working with labs around the world, we created software to meet the everyday needs of molecular biologists. Each enhancement has generated new ideas, and SnapGene is still in active development, evolving as the field is changing.

In 2022, SnapGene became part of Dotmatics, the world’s largest and most powerful scientific R&D software platform. Combining an open data informatics framework with best in breed applications like SnapGene, we offer the first true end-to-end solutions for biology, chemistry, formulations, data management, flow cytometry, and more. Together, our company can better: connect science, data, and decision-making and ultimately drive meaningful transformation for our customers.

Guiding Principles

Software should be easy to use, and should help you achieve your goals as quickly and painlessly as possible.
We are students and practitioners of “human-computer interaction”. This approach has enabled us to design a software interface that acts as an extension of the user’s mind.

Software for everyday tasks should be priced so that a lab can provide a copy to each researcher.
When molecular biology software is so expensive that a lab can afford only one or two licenses, the benefits are limited. For this reason, SnapGene academic licenses are steeply discounted for multi-license packs. We also offer special pricing to accommodate labs with different financial resources.

You own your data! Scientists should be able to read and share files without restriction. And your data should always remain within your own control.
We provide a free SnapGene Viewer so that anyone can view the full contents of a SnapGene file. In addition, SnapGene and SnapGene Viewer open many common file formats. Because SnapGene doesn’t lock you into a particular file format or data storage location, you maintain full control of your data.

SnapGene is so easy to use that my lab adopted it instantly. It saves a lot of time and money as we now do all our cloning in SnapGene first and catch any snags in the strategy before they hold us up.
A. Matouschek
Northwestern University
Discover the most user-friendly molecular biology experience.