Support of the LSU Collection of Frozen Tissues

生物科学的许多最新进展都源于分子水平上的生化研究。这些分子的来源是冰冻组织。路易斯安那州立大学自然科学博物馆的冰冻组织收藏是同类收藏中最大的。它包含了30,000多种脊椎动物的组织样本，每个样本都在零下70摄氏度保存。超低温保存确保蛋白质和遗传信息本身DNA保持在生理活性(活的)状态。这些藏品用于比较生物化学、生理学、遗传学、法医学和进化论的研究。美国和加拿大的研究人员经常使用这些藏品，这显然是一种全国性的资源，不会在美国或其他地方复制。冷冻组织收集的维护和操作成本很高。超低温保存需要昂贵的冰柜。样品的操作是非常劳动密集型的，因为每个样品都必须保持冷冻状态(样品必须在干冰上分类)。路易斯安那州立大学目前提供一名博士级别的策展人、一名研究生策展助理(50%的时间)和冰柜的公用事业费用。该项目提供资金，提供所需的设备和劳动力，以管理和计算机化收集，并使其成为功能齐全的国家资源，能够接受组织样本并将其分发给研究界。该项目将确保这些不可替代的研究材料得到很好的维护，并随时提供给研究界。

Many recent advances in biological sciences have resulted from biochemical studies focused at the molecular level. The source of these molecules is frozen tissue. The Frozen Tissue Collection at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science is the largest of its kind. It contains tissue samples of over 30,000 vertebrate animals, each preserved at -70 C. Ultracold preservation insures that proteins and the hereditary information itself, DNA, remain in a physiologically active (viable) state. The collection is used for studies of comparative biochemistry, physiology, genetics, forensics and evolution. Researchers throughout the United States and Canada regularly use the collection, which clearly constitutes a national resource, one not replicated in the U.S. or elsewhere. Frozen tissue collections are costly to maintain and operate. Expensive freezers are required for ultracold preservation. Manipulation of samples is very labor intensive, because each specimen must remain frozen (specimens must be sorted on dry ice). LSU currently supplies a Ph.D. level curator, a graduate curatorial assistant (50% time), and utility costs for freezers. This project provides funds for needed equipment and labor to manage and computerize the collection and make it a fully functional national resource, one capable of accepting and dispersing tissue samples to the research community. The project will ensure that these irreplaceable research materials are well maintained and made readily available to the research community.