CSBR: Natural History: Preserving the genomes of the type specimens in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

物种是生物多样性的基本单位。为了得到认可，物种必须根据实物标本进行描述和命名，这些实物标本通常被称为模式标本或命名标本。这些模式标本必须登记并存放在公共机构，通常是自然历史博物馆，以便科学界进一步研究。传统上，这些标本，无论是骨头还是干燥的皮肤，被钉住的昆虫，还是保存在液体中的标本，都被保存在博物馆的架子上。然而，这些条件并不适合长期保存它们珍贵的DNA。为了阻止模式标本中的DNA降解，该奖项为比较动物博物馆（MCZ）的大多数主要类型提供了亚样本和冷冻保存的手段，以确保将来可以进行基因组工作。此外，该项目还为学生提供了一个在博物馆科学方面接受培训的机会，并在最先进的低温保存设施中工作。超过31,000种基于数据的非化石物种的主要类型目前被安置在MCZ的收藏中。它们的保存方式多种多样，有干的（如骨头、皮肤、珊瑚、海绵和海星），也有湿的（如乙醇、福尔马林），但很少有冷冻保存的，因此它们的DNA会随着时间的推移而迅速降解。该项目的主要目的是通过对大约17,000个样本进行亚采样，并将它们存放在MCZ低温收集库中，以防止大多数MCZ主要类型的DNA进一步降解。MCZ低温收集库是一种将样本储存在约-167°C的蒸汽液氮冷冻机中的设施，这是保存遗传资源的黄金标准。MCZ成为第一个共同努力阻止大量以其命名的标本DNA降解的自然历史博物馆。这将确保在未来，每一个有名字的标本都有可能有一个与之相关的基因组测序。此外，这些类型的遗传物质的广泛保存将产生超越科学的影响，为未来的发现提供资源。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Species are the basic units of biodiversity. To be recognized, species have to be described and named based on physical specimens, generally known as type specimens or name-bearing specimens. These type specimens must be registered and deposited in a public institution, typically a natural history museum, where they are available to the scientific community for further study. Traditionally, such specimens, whether bones or a dry skin, a pinned insect, or a specimen preserved in fluid, have been stored on museum shelves. However, these conditions are suboptimal for the long-term preservation of their precious DNA. To stop DNA degradation in type specimens, this award provides a means to subsample and cryo-preserve most of the primary types in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) to ensure that genomic work can be conducted in the future. In addition, the project provides an opportunity for students to be trained in museum sciences and to work in a state-of-the-art facility for cryopreservation. More than 31,000 data based primary types of non-fossil species are currently housed in the collections of the MCZ. These are preserved in a variety of ways, both dry (e.g., bones, skins, corals, sponges and sea stars) and wet (e.g., ethanol, formalin), but few of these are cryopreserved, and thus their DNA has been degrading rapidly over time. The principal aim of this project is to prevent further DNA degradation in most of the MCZ primary types by subsampling ca. 17,000 specimens and depositing them in the MCZ Cryogenic Collection—a facility where specimens are stored in vapor liquid nitrogen freezers at approximately -167 °C, a gold standard to preserve genetic resources. The MCZ becomes the first natural history museum to conduct a concerted effort to stop degradation of DNA in a large number of its name-bearing specimens. This will ensure the possibility that in the future, every name-bearing specimen may have the possibility to have a sequenced genome associated with it. In addition, the widescale preservation of genetic material these types will have impacts beyond science, providing a resource for future discovery.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.