[Nhcoll-l] DNA samples suggestions

Thu Nov 3 02:59:20 EDT 2016

Dear Karen and Lena,

I'm sorry for being late to this discussion. I am a graduate student at
Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC) in the Department or Archaeology. My
research is on developing a minimally destructive aDNA sampling technique
meant specifically for use on museum collection bone artifacts and samples
(I've attached a poster highlighting my research from earlier this year).

The most standard material for DNA analysis is bone and teeth, as these
tend to preserve DNA better than tissue and fur. Nezka is also correct that
the chemicals used for taxidermy could destroy the DNA or inhibit the
amplification of any surviving DNA. It is likely that bone and teeth would
be less effected by these chemicals and could provide the best sample. My
guess is that it would still be possible to obtain surviving DNA from these
samples as they are only ~50 years old.

Karen, I would also suggest getting in touch with Dr. Deborah Bolnick (The
University of Texas, Austin, Department of Anthropology) as she is also in
Texas, has a DNA lab, and is familiar with working on museum collections.
She might be in a better position to give you more detailed information
about the research you could conduct on your mounts.

I would be happy to speak with you both if you have more/other questions or
would like the names of other possible DNA contacts. I hope this was
helpful!

Kelly Brown

> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2016 10:53:21 -0400
> From: "Nezka Pfeifer" <curator at everhart-museum.org>
> Subject: [Nhcoll-l] DNA samples suggestions
> To: <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> Message-ID: <007a01d23061$dd3ae0b0$97b0a210$@org>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Dear Karen and Lena,
> While my experience with DNA sampling of taxidermy is minimal, often the
> chemical process of taxidermy interferes/destroys viable DNA material, but
> it has been done on some of the bird mounts (passenger pigeons) and a wolf
> in our collection, and can be done on other specimens. It really depends on
> the stability of the material that remains on the mount I believe, but
> scientists on this list should correct me if that's not true.
> In order to make some determinations about your collection, perhaps you can
> reach out any naturalists/scientists/professors in biology departments at
> your regional universities/colleges to see if this is sampling they are
> interested in or if they could refer you to anyone that might be
> interested.
> In the past, we've been contacted by researchers who were specifically
> trying to locate taxidermy mounts in historic museum collections to carry
> out their research so they already knew what they were up against when it
> came to the chemical treatment and deteriorate of DNA material.
> Hope this is somewhat useful,
> Nezka
>
>
> Nezka Pfeifer
> Curator
> The Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art
> 1901 Mulberry Street
> Scranton, PA? 18510-2390
> p: 570.346.7186 ext. 512
> f: 570.346.0652
> www.everhart-museum.org
>
> Follow the breadcrumbs to the Everhart Museum and explore the symbols and
> archetypes found in fairy tales in Wolves, Magic Mirrors & Spinning Wheels:
> The Anatomy of Fairy Tales. Be inspired by artworks illustrating new fairy
> tales in our Community Art at the Everhart: Fairy Tale Remix exhibit in
> Gallery ONE. All exhibits on view July 15 ? December 31, 2016.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:21:39 +0000
> From: Karen Morton <Karen.Morton at perotmuseum.org>
> Subject: [Nhcoll-l] DNA Samples
> To: "nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu" <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> Message-ID:
>
> <MWHPR12MB1503409FA49F79CE190877C49CA90 at MWHPR12MB1503.
> namprd12.prod.outlook.
> com>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Dear List Members,
>
> We have a very large taxidermy collection.  A huge portion of the
> collection
> is made up of should mounts that rarely make an appearance in the exhibit
> galleries.  Most of the specimens were donated to the museum in the 1960's
> and 1970's by local big game hunters.  The museum is exploring its options
> to deaccession this part of our collection but we are also interesting in
> knowing if taxidermy mounts are viable specimens for DNA sampling.  If so,
> what is the best way to approach this?  A lock of fur?  A skin sample? Etc.
> There are significant African and Asian animals represented in the
> collection and if they can provide any useful data for future use, we would
> like to do all that we can to preserve the data without storing a few
> hundred shoulder mounts.
>
> Any advice on the matter will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
> KAREN MORTON
> Collections Manager
> Perot Museum of Nature and Science
> P 214.756.5722 |
> karen.morton at perotmuseum.org<mailto:karen.morton at perotmuseum.org>
>
> 2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, TX 75201
> P 214.428.5555 | F 214.428.5892| perotmuseum.org
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:38:03 +0000
> From: Lena Hernandez <LHernandez at themosh.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] DNA Samples
> To: "nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu" <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> Message-ID: <9d771061b30941c7ac01cd804b639869 at MOSHDC1.themosh.local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I would also be interested in this.
>
> Lena
>
> Lena Hernandez
> Collections Manager & Registrar
>
> Museum of Science & History
> 1025 Museum Circle
> Jacksonville, FL 32207
> (904)396-6674 x212
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2016 15:48:15 +0000
> From: "Bentley, Andrew Charles" <abentley at ku.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] DNA samples suggestions
> To: Nezka Pfeifer <curator at everhart-museum.org>,
>         "nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu"     <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> Cc: "LHernandez at themosh.org" <LHernandez at themosh.org>
> Message-ID:
>         <6a53e8a24ada441b884d711d2b079c90 at ex13-csf-cr-13.home.ku.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Karen
>
> Along with this good information - the premise of a good tissue sample is
> that it is backed up by a voucher specimen for identification purposes.  If
> you are adamant about getting rid of the mounts I would photographically
> document them so that these images can serve as a voucher surrogate for the
> tissue samples that you extract.
>
> You may also want to look at the following:
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.
> ncbi.nlm.nih.gov_pmc_articles_PMC3138465_&d=CwIFAw&c=-
> dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=
> gutX7WOijNW1R2U2GrACAeD775RQJnRiAzSwairscyg&s=
> RsDLJpcdz66G63BSzvvs9nuhpggVatfX9Y4sRKU4VLc&e=
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.
> scielo.br_pdf_gmb_v30n4_24.pdf&d=CwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=
> CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=
> gutX7WOijNW1R2U2GrACAeD775RQJnRiAzSwairscyg&s=
> PpCDs2G7Sdm1ADq4DvGEUHDonoLWNzswMNrNLhYW2sI&e=
>
> Andy
>
> ??? A? :???????????? A? :???????????? A? :
> ?}<(((_?>.,.,.,.}<(((_?>.,.,.,.}<)))_?>
> ??? V??????????????? V??????????????? V
> Andy Bentley
> Ichthyology Collection Manager
> University of Kansas
> Biodiversity Institute
> Dyche Hall
> 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
> Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
> USA
>
> Tel: (785) 864-3863
> Fax: (785) 864-5335
> Email: abentley at ku.edu??
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__
> ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu&d=CwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=
> CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=
> gutX7WOijNW1R2U2GrACAeD775RQJnRiAzSwairscyg&s=
> 9hkW2iYK939yu0rK43OuIzXG4nX7WsVU24ub7SGPm2c&e=
>
> SPNHC Past-President
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.
> spnhc.org&d=CwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=
> CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=
> gutX7WOijNW1R2U2GrACAeD775RQJnRiAzSwairscyg&s=KpJnJtK07CudZFdysN9X8RbkjBz-
> njgDEsPxAMdQ4HQ&e=
>
> ?????????????????????????? :???????????????? :????
> ??? A? :???????????? A? :???????????? A? :
> ?}<(((_?>.,.,.,.}<(((_?>.,.,.,.}<)))_?>
> ??? V??????????????? V??????????????? V
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@
> mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Nezka Pfeifer
> Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2016 9:53 AM
> To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> Subject: [Nhcoll-l] DNA samples suggestions
>
> Dear Karen and Lena,
> While my experience with DNA sampling of taxidermy is minimal, often the
> chemical process of taxidermy interferes/destroys viable DNA material, but
> it has been done on some of the bird mounts (passenger pigeons) and a wolf
> in our collection, and can be done on other specimens. It really depends on
> the stability of the material that remains on the mount I believe, but
> scientists on this list should correct me if that's not true.
> In order to make some determinations about your collection, perhaps you
> can reach out any naturalists/scientists/professors in biology
> departments at your regional universities/colleges to see if this is
> sampling they are interested in or if they could refer you to anyone that
> might be interested.
> In the past, we've been contacted by researchers who were specifically
> trying to locate taxidermy mounts in historic museum collections to carry
> out their research so they already knew what they were up against when it
> came to the chemical treatment and deteriorate of DNA material.
> Hope this is somewhat useful,
> Nezka
>
>
> Nezka Pfeifer
> Curator
> The Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art
> 1901 Mulberry Street
> Scranton, PA? 18510-2390
> p: 570.346.7186 ext. 512
> f: 570.346.0652
> www.everhart-museum.org
>
> Follow the breadcrumbs to the Everhart Museum and explore the symbols and
> archetypes found in fairy tales in Wolves, Magic Mirrors & Spinning Wheels:
> The Anatomy of Fairy Tales. Be inspired by artworks illustrating new fairy
> tales in our Community Art at the Everhart: Fairy Tale Remix exhibit in
> Gallery ONE. All exhibits on view July 15 - December 31, 2016.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:21:39 +0000
> From: Karen Morton <Karen.Morton at perotmuseum.org>
> Subject: [Nhcoll-l] DNA Samples
> To: "nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu" <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> Message-ID:
>
> <MWHPR12MB1503409FA49F79CE190877C49CA90 at MWHPR12MB1503.
> namprd12.prod.outlook.
> com>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Dear List Members,
>
> We have a very large taxidermy collection.  A huge portion of the
> collection is made up of should mounts that rarely make an appearance in
> the exhibit galleries.  Most of the specimens were donated to the museum in
> the 1960's and 1970's by local big game hunters.  The museum is exploring
> its options to deaccession this part of our collection but we are also
> interesting in knowing if taxidermy mounts are viable specimens for DNA
> sampling.  If so, what is the best way to approach this?  A lock of fur?  A
> skin sample? Etc.
> There are significant African and Asian animals represented in the
> collection and if they can provide any useful data for future use, we would
> like to do all that we can to preserve the data without storing a few
> hundred shoulder mounts.
>
> Any advice on the matter will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
> KAREN MORTON
> Collections Manager
> Perot Museum of Nature and Science
> P 214.756.5722 |
> karen.morton at perotmuseum.org<mailto:karen.morton at perotmuseum.org>
>
> 2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, TX 75201
> P 214.428.5555 | F 214.428.5892| perotmuseum.org
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:38:03 +0000
> From: Lena Hernandez <LHernandez at themosh.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] DNA Samples
> To: "nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu" <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> Message-ID: <9d771061b30941c7ac01cd804b639869 at MOSHDC1.themosh.local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I would also be interested in this.
>
> Lena
>
> Lena Hernandez
> Collections Manager & Registrar
>
> Museum of Science & History
> 1025 Museum Circle
> Jacksonville, FL 32207
> (904)396-6674 x212
>
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