Collections of DNA and environmental samples

Many steps have been taken worldwide to collect and preserve genetic material. A good example is the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN), which aims to bring together different agencies to preserve DNA samples collected and/or extracted from the wild and to provide a data management platform for sample data. The data held in the GGBN is freely accessible to researchers and all other interested parties. In Estonia, the University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden is a member of the GGBN, providing a physical collection of DNA and environmental samples and a digital infrastructure for the long-term storage and management of environmental samples from Estonian research institutions through the PlutoF data management system.
 

By the end of 2022, the University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden collection includes more than 30 000 DNA samples, more than five thousand environmental samples and more than one thousand tissue samples. Most of the material has already been published in scientific journals, but much of the value of the collections is yet to be realised. The Natural History Museum and the Botanical Garden also hold a large number of fungal, plant and animal collections, some of which are informative at DNA level. As research methods improve, more precise ways of learning about nature from material collected in the past will open up in the future. However, the loss of biodiversity makes it necessary to collect and preserve existing genetic material now. It is this forward-looking approach that necessitates the proper and organised preservation of material.