Conservation and Preparation Department

Tissue Collection for Genetic Analyses

The collection consists of well-preserved animal tissue samples separated from material collected primarily within the Republic of Croatia from 1997 to the present day. Tissues are stored in sterile plastic microtubes either in an ultra-low temperature laboratory freezer at -80°C, preserved in 96% alcohol and stored in a standard freezer at -20°C, or conserved in RNAlater solution, which protects macromolecules from degradation even at storage temperatures of -20°C.

DNA samples isolated from specimens within the Tissue Collection for Genetic Analyses are permanently stored together with the collection at a temperature of -80°C.

This unique collection of permanently preserved tissue samples and isolated DNA represents, in a way, a national library of genetic biodiversity, currently safeguarding primarily samples of endangered and endemic fauna species of Croatia.

Well-preserved tissue in which hereditary macromolecules are protected from degradation represents an exceptionally valuable scientific resource for the study of biodiversity, population genetics, and phylogenetics, both today and in the future.

Material from the collection is processed in the museum’s DNA laboratory.