. Annual report. Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology. COLLECTIONS. New Cryogenic Collection The MCZ collections of genetic material— tissue samples for DNA and RNA extraction— have been housed in frozen storage in collections and labs all around the MCZ, complicating tracking and sending curatorial staff scrambling during power outages. To provide a more accessible and reliable system for the storage and preservation of this material, a Cryogenic Collection is being created to centralize sample storage from across the MCZ in liquid nitrogen-cooled cryovats. Breda Zimkus. the Cryo
. Annual report. Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology. COLLECTIONS. New Cryogenic Collection The MCZ collections of genetic material— tissue samples for DNA and RNA extraction— have been housed in frozen storage in collections and labs all around the MCZ, complicating tracking and sending curatorial staff scrambling during power outages. To provide a more accessible and reliable system for the storage and preservation of this material, a Cryogenic Collection is being created to centralize sample storage from across the MCZ in liquid nitrogen-cooled cryovats. Breda Zimkus. the Cryogenic Collection Project Manager, has been working on converting former collection storage space in the MCZ Labs in the building's basement. The space is nearly completed and the institution's first liquid nitrogen cryovats will be delivered in September 2011. "For our purposes, cryovats are the superior choice because the colder the storage, the longer the sample remains viable for genetic research," explained Zimkus. 'The three cryovats will accommodate 40,000 samples each, enough space for our existing collections with room for growth—and we have floor space for one or two ; All of the centrally stored samples will be barcoded for easy access, resulting in a more efficient workflow that will free up collections staff and improve the handling of the samples. According to Zimkus, 'The facility is designed to support the work of all the scientific staff at the ; During planning, Zimkus discovered that while there were many options in designing a cryogenic facility, there were no right answers for every circumstance and little published information to help evaluate the options. To help rectify this deficiency, she received a grant to develop best practices for genetic resource collections associated with natural history museums. She expects to share her results at the 2012 annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Co
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