I was not going to post a review but the recent spate of positive reviews led me to investigate. These reviews are not posted by technicians, associates, or researchers - they are posted by undergraduate co-op students doing one or two term work-study placements subsidized by their university. They, and grant subsidized postdocs, are the backbone of this company's workforce. They were asked to write a positive review in return for a positive letter of reference.
The Vancouver Sun did a takedown of this company's spinoff published Aug 19th and Aug 25th, 2015 titled "B.C. company to launch DNA testing service: Scrutiny by government and College of Physicians and Surgeons being considered" and "BC gene sequencing laboratory retracts accreditation claim after news story exposes bogus info."
This company not only bald facedly lied about having the accreditation required to offer their services, they weren't even smart enough to lie about the correct accreditation required to offer their services in British Columbia.
Applied Biological Materials (abm) has repeatedly demonstrated a profound lack of business ethics, completely bankrupt scientific integrity, and laughable scientific credibility. They are repeatedly deceptive towards their customers and potential customers, their vendors, and their employees.
Senior management considers performance to be a zero-sum game; no-one can win (especially senior management's favourites) if there aren't a lot of losers, and performs employee evaluations accordingly. Favouritism abounds and scapegoats are publicly verbally insulted.
It's a crying shame that, not knowing any better, young people's careers are being ruined by blithely engaging in the terrible business and scientific practices encouraged by this company, much less the serious negative impact of researchers using this company's products potentially wasting uncompensable opportunity costs to trainees and researchers, time, potentially unique samples, grant money, and future grants when experimental results are non-replicable with bona fide reagents.
