Can you tell us how molecular methods are being utilized by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History?
The LAB provides the infrastructure for all molecular research at the Museum — the emphasis over the past couple of years has been to improve automation and to increase the capacity and standardization of methods across facilities. We provide several options for automated high-throughput DNA/RNA extraction from any plant or animal tissue; robotics for PCR, DNA sequencing, fragment analysis, and most standard molecular methods; and centralized parallel computing clusters for analysis of genetic data using a multitude of software applications. Scientists in our labs focus on Tree of Life projects, phylogeography, speciation, population genetics, and many other questions, and most utilize common DNA- and PCR-based technologies, with DNA sequencing playing a prominent role in many projects.
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