Research Infrastructure: Securing and Advancing Access to the Duke Lemur Center BioBank

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

An award is made to the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) to enable physical and database improvements to enhance, secure, and advance scientific access to the DLC BioBank. The DLC is the only place in the world where biological samples of strepsirrhines primates are available for researchers and educators along with living animals, associated life history and medical records, and fossil relatives of the living species. This project will produce educational materials including the creation of downloadable, 3D-print-ready media files (e.g., skeletal specimens) and an online Image Gallery exemplifying the scientific discoveries made from DLC BioBank specimens. The 3D-print-ready files will have supporting materials to facilitate use by educators, including a Media Guide and how-to video. The Image Gallery will include text descriptions that explain how biological science works and why the results are relevant to the general public. The continuity of knowledge generated by the multidisciplinary work carried out with DLC BioBank specimens contributes to an understanding of organismal and ecosystem biology and to conservation efforts in Madagascar. This project addresses an enduring requirement for biological research which is that properly stored and provenienced biosamples are necessary to address current and future questions at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels. Existing infrastructure for storing and protecting specimens will be increased, existing cyberinfrastructure for cataloguing and tracking samples will be augmented, and an online inventory summary will be developed and made available for researchers to promote interest in and use of the collection. The outcomes will increase operability, access, and dissemination of BioBank resources to researchers, educators, and the general public. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.