[Nhcoll-l] Loans to private companies

[Callomon,Paul]

I’ve never had such a request, but there are two things I’d bear in mind:


  *   In compiling our soon-to-be-published book, we checked every identification and distribution record against the literature (5,000 entries!) At first we also proofed against GBIF, but soon stopped because it was too often at odds with the literature and littered with clearly erroneous records. We deduced that this was largely due to misidentifications in collections and popular literature. Given that, I wouldn’t in turn vouch for the accuracy of the identifications in our own collection of specimens in many groups where “species” are plentiful but reliable systematic work is sparse. Would we somehow be liable if someone spent a million bucks on developing some genetic code, only to find we had sent them the wrong species?
  *   At least in the USA, it is legal to copyright gene sequences. That alone should give one pause when dealing with commercial entities.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
callomon at ansp.org<mailto:callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170


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Dear NHColl community,



What, if any, extraordinary considerations do you take into account for tissue loans to private, for-profit companies? Our loan terms prohibit commercial use of tissues and sequence data derived therefrom. We receive requests from the biotechnology sector that are not directly commercial but that may produce profitable methodologies or technologies for use in industry. For example, projects aimed at species conservation and habitat restoration, goals that align broadly with our museum’s mission.



Do you grant requests of this nature? If so, do you alter the terms of your institution’s typical loan agreements to do so, and in what ways?


Thank you for any advice you care to share,
Dave

David A. Boyd, MSc
Collections Manager, Ichthyology and Herpetology
Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science
119 Foster Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
(225) 681-0456

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