ABCAM

Abcam的名字来自antibody和the University of Cambridge的综合，abcam初期的主要成功来自 Chromatin antibodies , loading control antibodies and GFP antibodies 。后来，由于越来越多的人加入和风险投资的支持，abcam得到了迅速的发展。至今，abcam可以提供上万种高质量的抗体。Abcam不仅提供全面人性化的在线电子目录，而且提供用户使用这些抗体的心得体会。
Abcam公司位于英国的剑桥科学园,成立于1998年. 公司的愿景是提供优质的产品,更完善的客户服务,帮助科研人员快速地找到研究所需要的最好抗体. 公司在网站内设立了在线电子目录,客户数秒内就能找到所需产品.几年来,公司向世界各地的五十多个国家提供了上万种产品.公司秉持的三大理念使成千上万的科研者把Abcam作为自己的首选,那就是提供充分的信息支持,免费的技术帮助和快速的物流配送. 该公司提供多种第一抗体，可应用于包括染色质、神经科学、DNA损伤和修复等广阔的研究领域，还有抗13个不同物种的全面的第二抗体，帮助选择你所需要的荧光标记物。公司的辅产品包括全系列的溶菌液、载片组织。该网站提供包括产品目录、购物篮、职业和资源等在内的相关信息。 
 
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.