
2023 holiday gift guide
The holidays are just around the corner, so it's time for ASBMB Today's annual gift guide! We hope these suggestions will help you check some of your favorite scientists off this year’s gift list. And if you need even more ideas, see our guides from 2022 and 2021.
APPAREL
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Do you have anyone who works on mass spectrometry on your list, or a postdoc you’d like to thank? Check out ASBMB’s T-shirts. Our honors #TeamMassSpec, the three-time winner of the Journal of Biological Chemistry’s annual contest, and our was designed to celebrate National Postdoc Appreciation Week. Not only will your purchase put a smile on someone’s face this holiday season, but proceeds from your order will support the ASBMB’s Marion B. Sewer Distinguished Scholarship for Undergraduates and our , respectively.

OK, so we don’t technically wear our phones. But they certainly can make a fashion statement. is an Etsy shop dedicated to unique gifts for science enthusiasts. This iPhone case, featuring a variety of microorganisms, is just one of many great options for researchers. Check out the shop for T-shirts, stickers, mugs and more.

The description of this pin from Twisted Protein on Etsy brilliantly sums up this great gift idea: “The pipette: Arguably one of the most used tools in the lab, except this one won't need to be calibrated!” Love it!

Some of us are OK embracing our inner nerd. Plus, a member of ASBMB’s staff suggested this would make a great gift card holder, and we couldn’t agree more!
TOYS AND ACTIVITIES (FOR KIDS AND ADULTS)

The “Barbie” movie was a blockbuster this year! This scientist-themed playset includes goggles, beakers, a microscope and more. It’s a great way to introduce the future scientist (and Barbie fan) on your list to the lab.

This gift box from includes DNA, a nucleus, mitochondria, RNA and a chromosome. These are good for playing and displaying. And if you want one from the collection for yourself, we’ll have some at the ASBMB marketplace at in March in San Antonio.

Neil Garg, a professor at UCLA, won the 2019 ͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education. We’re thrilled to include this coloring book on this year’s gift guide, which Garg created with his daughters. Sucrose, aspirin, caffeine and cellulose are just a few of the book’s featured molecules.

This coloring book will take #sciart fans “on an artistic voyage into the microscopic world of cells” with illustrations of cells from the brain, intestine, eye, lung, and more.

These LEGO® lab sets from are advertised as a way to “indulge your nerdy heart and let your inner child run wild.” They’re sure to bring joy to the scientists on your list! (We’ll be giving away some at Discover BMB in March in San Antonio, so be sure to throw your name in the hat for that contest.)

Literally the building blocks of, well, everything, these will make a great study guide accompaniment to “The Element Song” by Tom Lehrer for the student on your list.
DECOR

The Calculated Chemist offers a variety of lovely gifts for scientists. This year, we’re highlighting their natural wood and resin chemistry coaster set. Be sure to shop their drinkware collection too, for a mug or tumbler to compliment the coasters!

Give the biochemist or molecular biologist on your list a gift that’s as one-of-a-kind as they are! a shop on Etsy, will create a custom portrait from the photo you provide of your colleague, friend or loved one.

Sure, mugs make great pencil holders, but they can’t turn your pencils into symbols of base pairs the way this double helix design from 3D Print New York can!
A LAB MUST-HAVE

Rocket Notebooks are digital notebooks — simply write, scan your pages, erase and reuse! It’s a great item for students or anyone on your list who needs to jot down ideas and would be excited about the opportunity to reduce waste and save some space.
BOOKS

This collection of questions from grade schoolers, answered by experts, in ’ book promises to be endearing — and informative! (Seriously, can a bee sting a bee?)

Shopping for a scientist who’s also a chef or for someone whose New Year’s resolution might be to learn more about cooking? We think ’s cookbook will be a great addition (or start) to their collection.

and highlight 20 science and nature essays that “probe at the ordinary and urge us to think more deeply about our place in the world around us.” Striving to answer is a passion of ASBMB members, and we thought this collection sounded like an interesting read for fellow curious scientists.
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