As a key global enabler of the revolutionary genome editing technology known as CRISPR, the nonprofit organization Addgene has made available more than 100,000 CRISPR plasmids (circular DNA fragments) to 3,400 laboratories worldwide. The origins, goals, global reach, and success of Addgene in democratizing CRISPR, which his dramatically changing medical research, are described in a Perspective article published in The CRISPR Journal.