Worldwide natural history collections contain more than three billion specimens assembled over hundreds of years, an irreplaceable physical record of life. Though there is bias inherent in their composition — from a disproportionate number of roadside plants to the dismissal of traditional ecological knowledge that could have expanded our understanding far sooner — we rely on them to gather data on the past, decipher the present, and forecast the future of the changing Earth. With modern technology, they can answer questions that their original collectors never dreamed of. Who knows what further mysteries they hold? Below, scientists explain their efforts to unravel some of those mysteries.
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Prof. Jocelyn Colella, University of Kansas
My specimen-based research integrates genomic, morphometric, and physiological methods to investigate mammalian adaptations to extreme environments, with major implications for human health. With Matthew MacManes's lab at the University of New Hampshire, I used tissues in museum collections to identify genes and physiological pathways that allow small mammals to survive in hot, arid deserts. We've pinpointed genes involved in insulin regulation and the process of lipogenesis (e.g., endogenous synthesis of fats from carbs to create energy and water) as important for dehydration tolerance in mammals, which offers a promising avenue for future biomedical research in humans.
Several of these scientists spoke at the University of Michigan's virtual Early Career Scientists Symposium of 2021, Natural History Collections: Drivers of Innovation.
