[Taxacom] Taxonomic haves/have nots

[Bob Mesibov]

Stuart, I couldn't agree with you more that taxonomists should think ahead and preserve fresh material, where available, in something that facilitates later DNA extraction. Note that 'where available' means fresh specimens, which aren't always at hand (see my previous post).

That 'something' would usefully be other than absolute EtOH at -80C, too. What's known, for example, about extracting good DNA after long storage in 100% propylene glycol? Reagent grade PG isn't dirt cheap, but it beats EtOH for safety, among other things.

And while I think it's a good idea to do this, at the moment you could see it as a triumph of hope over experience. When I get asked for DNA vouchers from my part of the world, they almost always go to a project looking for phylogenetically far-flung exemplars to rough out a Big Tree. In other words, the money comes from a grant to answer some Big Question in systematics, not the detail work that taxonomists have focused on for most of the last 250 years.
-- 
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
School of Zoology, University of Tasmania
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
03 64371195; 61 3 64371195
Webpage: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/?articleID=570