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Articles on Natural history collections

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Museum specimens are like time capsules from where and when the organisms and their pathogens lived. Ed Maker/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Leprosy-causing bacteria found in armadillo specimens highlight value of museum collections for tracking pathogens

Museum archives hold biological specimens that have been collected over years or even decades. Modern molecular analysis of these collections can reveal information about pathogens and their spread.
Behind the scenes, natural history museums store biological samples from the field. Ryan Stephens

Museum specimens could help fight the next pandemic – why preserving collections is crucial to future scientific discoveries

Specimen preservation means researchers don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time they ask a new question, making it critical for the advancement of science. But many specimens are discarded or lost.
Campus shutdowns mean researchers must be classified as essential personnel to tend collections, like these fungus-colonized plants. Cameron Stauder

Scientists are working to protect invaluable living collections during coronavirus lockdowns

From fungi and flies to spiders and fish, living collections need care and feeding even when their human keepers are dealing with a pandemic and its resultant social distancing.
Museum collections are repositories of specimens and data, including specimens, tissue samples and vocal recordings. from Wikimedia Commons

Taxonomy, the science of naming things, is under threat

Taxonomists are becoming as rare as some of the species they work on, and this puts museum collections and conservation efforts under threat and increases the risk of biosecurity incursions.

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