CSBR: Natural History Collections: Liquid Nitrogen Facilities for Biological Specimen Curation and Research at the California Academy of Sciences

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The project will establish a modern liquid nitrogen storage system to ensure the long-term preservation of the tissue and genetic collections housed at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS). This one-year project will acquire and install new liquid nitrogen freezers, an oxygen deficiency safety monitor, and a dry ice maker. This will be followed by the transfer of tissues and DNA collections from -80ºC electric freezers to the new system. Liquid nitrogen provides colder storage (-190ºc) and reduces costs and risks of electric freezers. This new system will provide efficient, stable, and reliable long-term storage for irreplaceable biological resources.The growing tissue and genetic collections at CAS support the global scientific community. These genetic resources have been used in numerous studies, including studies of biodiversity, the effects of global climate change, studies of conservation policy and management, as well as basic scientific research. In addition, every step of the proposed project will be documented by the CAS Science Visualization team, who will produce a video for the "Science in Action" exhibit. This video will be used in the museum public floor, web pages, and other institutional resources, and it will communicate the value and importance of frozen genetic collections.