Santa Cruz Biotechnology is a developer of biological products for
medical research
Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...
, and is one of the world’s largest suppliers of
antibodies
An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...
. The company was founded in 1991 by Dr. John Stephenson and his wife Brenda Stephenson in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz Biotechnology headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas, with additional US facilities in
Paso Robles
Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River (California), Sal ...
, California, and
Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1406 at the 2010 census, down from 1427 in 2000.Shanghai and Canada.
History
The company was originally headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, and began offering antibodies to the research community. Other products lines were added over the years – siRNAs in 2007, shRNAs in 2009, and laboratory supplies in 2010.
In 2010, the offering of biochemical was expanded from just a few hundred to over 100,000 different products. Products related to
CRISPR
CRISPR () (an acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments of bacte ...
were introduced in 2015 for over 37,000 mouse and human
genes
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
.
Santa Cruz Biotechnology has had issues with the USDA for a number of years due to allegations of Animal Welfare Act violations. In May 2016, the company settled with the USDA, paying a $3.5 million fine for its alleged violations and agreed to the revocation of its polyclonal antibody dealer license effective from December 31, 2016.