Conference: U.S. Workshop on DNA Banking - January 2013, St. Louis, Missouri

Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

A two-day workshop on DNA banking in the US is planned for January 2013, in St. Louis, Missouri, organized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. Among the 26 invitees will be those from institutions having and lacking DNA collections; botanists, zoologists, mycologists, and specialists in bioinformatics, including people at all career stages, will attend; representatives of large and small institutions, including universities and stand-alone natural history museums and herbaria, will be invited. Presentations will be given in the morning and afternoons will be devoted to discussion; 18 of the invitees will be asked to speak. Topics will focus on two themes, maximizing the utility and efficiency of operation of existing DNA collections, and identifying and filling the most critical gaps in those collections. The objectives of the workshop include improving awareness of existing DNA resources, identifying geographic and taxonomic gaps in those resources and crafting a strategy for filling the gaps, and discussion of what legal, ethical, and data standards should apply to all such resources. The outcomes of the workshop will be published by the Missouri Botanical Garden Press (manuscript editing will be complete within a year of the workshop).