2023 AMSS Abstract Book

Arctic | Mammals

The NIST Biorepository: Who we are, what we do, and how you can contribute! Presenter: Amanda Moors , amanda.moors@nist.gov, NIST Debra Ellisor , debra.ellisor@nist.gov, NIST Jennifer Hoguet , jennifer.hoguet@nist.gov, NIST Jennifer Ness , jennifer.ness@nist.gov, NIST Teri Rowles , teri.rowles@noaa.gov, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Rebecca Pugh , rebecca.pugh@nist.gov, NIST Initial archiving of mussels, oysters, and sediment collections were the pilot projects which started the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on the path to biobanking in 1979. Based on these initial projects, NIST protocols for collection, processing, and banking were primarily developed for environmental contaminant analysis. In 1989, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources (NMFS/OPR), in collaboration with NIST began the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank (NMMTB) for long-term cryogenic archival of marine mammal tissues. The NMMTB is part of NMFS’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program and is maintained by NIST at the NIST Biorepository in Charleston, South Carolina. Marine mammal specimens from Alaska are provided to the NMMTB through the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project (AMMTAP), which was established in 1987. The NIST Biorepository relies on field collectors to collect, process, and archive liver, kidney, and blubber samples for AMMTAP. Through the NMMTB’s tissue access policy, AMMTAP samples are available to request for analysis. The NIST Biorepository’s archiving projects are an important national resource of research materials which collaborators can access that are used to document geographic and temporal trends in new pollutants, changes in transport and accumulation of old pollutants in the environment, and study temporal changes in animal health through application of future analytical and biochemical techniques. We are able to provide specimens that have been collected, processed and archived using standardized and well documented protocols to ensure a high-quality specimen is available now and in the future.

Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 281

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