Biobanking at the Natural History Museum London.

Thermo Fisher Summer Symposium June 2011

Jackie Mackenzie-Dodds and Dr Aidan Emery.

Opened in 1881, the Natural History Museum was

originally part of the British Museum, but was

granted independence in 1981.

The Museum has 70 million specimens in its

reference collections, and is home to the best natural

history library in the world. There are over 350

scientific staff actively involved in collections-based

research. The reference collections are housed in 5

science departments:

The Natural History Museum is the UK's national museum of

natural history, and a world centre of scientific excellence in

taxonomy and biodiversity.

Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology, Zoology

The Museum holds material from the collections of Hans Sloane, Captain Cook,

Charles Darwin, David Livingstone, Ernest Shackleton and many other key

explorers/naturalists.

Science at the NHM

• To explore the diversity of the natural world and the processes that generate this diversity

• To use the knowledge gained to promote a responsible interaction with the natural world

• The collections should be viewed as a model of the of the diversity of the natural world – both biological and geological rather than simply an archive of past scientific activity.

Richard Lane, Director of Science, NHM, 2004

Top left: The Darwin Centre at the Natural History

Museum, the new home of the Department of Zoology.

Opened in October 2002, the Darwin Centre was

designed to allow members of the public to have

controlled access to Museum staff, laboratories and

collections areas.

The Darwin Centre houses 22 million zoological

specimens preserved in 70-80% alcohol.

Top right: One of the seven floors of specimen collections.

Bottom right: The Tank Room on the ground floor of the

Darwin Centre, home to larger zoology specimens such

as dolphins, sharks, sturgeon, crocodiles and giant squid.

Types of material held in Zoology

• Dry

• Wet

• Slides

• SEM stubs

• Frozen tissues/DNA

• Models

• Literature and field note books

Top: Mammal

collection, South

London storage facility

Left: Osteology

collection, South

Kensington

Right: Mammal study

skins, NW Tower,

South Kensington

The national cetacean

osteological reference collection:

over 2500 skeletal specimens

representing 61 of approximately

80 known species of whales,

dolphins and porpoises collected

from around the world. The

bones act as a reservoir of

genetic and environmental

information.

•Top left: skulls of humpback

whale and other larger cetacean

species.

•Top right: skeleton of the

‘Thames whale’

•Bottom right: vertebral columns

of large whales with bones

arranged in sequential order.

DC2

Cocoon

Botany and Entomology

How does the material come in?

An average of 25,000 new specimens are received each year:

• Focussed collection by NHM researchers

• Opportunistic collecting

• Donation by scientists who regularly work on NHM collections

• Confiscations by Customs

• Donations or bequests from the public

Molecular Collections from Field

• Dry Shipper:

New priority areas

• British Biodiversity

• Global Climate Change and Biodiversity Crisis

• Time Series

New Collections

Main aims

• Centralised storage facility for collections destined for or created by molecular research

• In parallel with “traditional collections’’

• Collection resource to support both current and future research

• Designed to minimise risks to these collections and staff and ensure maximum future access

The Central Facility

• On NHM South Kensington site

• Mixture of storage methods LN2, +4, -20, -80, ambient

• Phased development towards LN2 and ambient

• Integration with NHM Facilities: Seq Fac, aDNA, Mol Labs.

• Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)

• KE EMu, FreezerPro, Eltek, QA/QC, sample tracking

Current storage

Storage in a variety of media:

• +4°C: tissues in alcohol

• -20°C Freezers :Tissues (some in alcohol), DNA

• -80°C Freezers: Tissues (some in alcohol), DNA, RNA

• -196°C Liquid Nitrogen (LN2), small collection

• Ambient Temperature Storage

• with silica (Leaves)

• Whatman FTA Cards

Management

Local Storage

-current

research

Researchers Field Collection

Central Storage

Facility

Archival Samples

External

Users

Loans/Gifts

Manager- Policy and Procedures

Molecular Collections Facility

LN2 BulkTank: 950L

Freezer Temp Monitor and alarm systems: 24/7 call

out

LN2 Racking

Future Proofing

• Collection enhancement; targeted, environmental

monitoring

• Business models: cost recovery, incentives

• Technical:

– LIMS (KE EMu, FreezerPro)

– DNA extraction and repair optimisation (archival

specimens)

– Ambient storage methods

– Next Generation Sequencing

– Automation/robotics

• Policy: IPR, ABS, CBD, loans

• Phase review: transfer, expansion

Questions?