Dan Distel

Sponsor: Cell Signaling Technology, 507764

Annual Environmental and Social Responsibility Grant: Ocean Genome Legacy Student Research in DNA Preservation

This grant will support OGL’s long running and successful Student Research in DNA Preservation Program, providing funds for experiments to improve the quality of DNA extracted from frozen biological materials. Freezing at ultra-cold temperatures (>80°C) is considered the “gold standard” for preserving DNA in tissue samples. However, OGL’s co-op student researchers noticed that DNA extracted from frozen tissue often appears highly degraded. OGL students hypothesized that this may be due to tissue thawing, which is required during DNA extraction. Even if this thawing lasts just a few seconds, there might be enough time for DNase enzymes to break the DNA down. To prevent this damage, OGL students are testing what happens if frozen tissue is thawed overnight in chilled liquid preservatives instead of extracting DNA directly from frozen tissue. If successful, this could save millions of frozen samples in collections worldwide that might otherwise not be useful for genomic research.