Established in 2006, the Florida Museum’s Genetic Resources Repository (GRR) archives more than 60,000 tissue samples and DNA and RNA preparations from physical specimens in the Museum.
Through its ongoing research and conservation projects, the Museum estimates it will add more than 100,000 specimens to the collection in the next 15 to 20 years.
The Repository’s mission is to guarantee the proper preservation of the Museum’s genetic resources and facilitate their use by the global scientific community. The integrity of the specimens is ensured by their cryogenic storage in a nitrogen-cooled freezer with a temperature of minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The information linking the holdings to their sources and other data relevant to their molecular value is managed in a searchable online database.
Many specimens in the Repository are rare and endangered species from several regions of the world, including unique samples from a diversity of taxonomic groups. The collection should prove instrumental to research programs worldwide. Specimens from peninsular Florida, including the Florida panther, represent ecosystems that have been nearly eliminated by extensive habitat disruption, and are an important component of the Repository.
A team of Museum scientists manages the growing collection, supervising the transfer of genetic material to the freezer and developing appropriate data and loan management protocols. Detailed information about the Repository’s management and loan request procedures is available on the protocols page.
These web pages are based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0545232. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.