In the News: Collecting for Disasters

Fig.1. A planned biobank for samples from Ebola patients could bolster African science and aid in global health efforts (Credit: CDC/Cynthia Goldsmith, via PHIL)

How far would you go to collect? When it comes to studying a nuclear disaster, a deadly disease, or even unreachable plants, these scientists come up with clever ways to take samples. Such collections help in global health and environmental efforts that work to protect our world:

• Sediment samples collected offshore from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant reveal what happened to radiation that contaminated the nearby seafloor: “Examining The Fate Of Fukushima Contaminants A Fraction Of Buried, Ocean Sediment Uncovered By Typhoons, Carried Offshore By Currents,” Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution News (18 August 2015)

• A biobank for up to 100,000 samples from Ebola patients would be valuable for preparing for the next outbreak. Such a resource would also strengthen self-reliant scientific efforts in Africa: “Proposed Ebola Biobank Would Strengthen African Science,” Nature (10 August 2015) 

• This one-of-a-kind shark is now resting in the Tulane Biodiversity Research Institute’s fish collection after traveling around the world to be studied: “Pocket Shark Returns To Tulane After Moment In National Spotlight,” The Times-Picayune (11 August 2015)

• These plant collectors, both named and unnamed, often risked life and limb to find seeds and contribute to herbaria and food security efforts: “The Perilous Quest For The Perfect Seed,” The Boston Globe (22 August 2015)

• Where do you store your fungi? A new NSF program aims to expand and enhance biodiversity collections , including the University of Maine’s mycological collection with around 8,000 specimens: “NSF Awards Fifth Round Of Grants To Enhance America’s Biodiversity Collections,” National Science Foundation News (20 August 2015)