Field Museum

In the last two activities, you attempted to identify differences in two lichen specimens using only your eyes. Was that an easy tasks? Based on your experience, hypothesize why it might be useful to utilize genomics when studying evolution. 

To help with the task of parsing out species that may look very similar to one another, or to verify and corroborate species determinations made on morphological or structural grounds, researchers use a research tool called Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). 

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)  provides this tool for aligning query sequences against those present in a selected target database.

This makes it possible for researchers to compare a genome of a newly sequenced specimen against a database of already identified and sequenced organisms, allowing scientists identify to which species their new specimen of interest might belong. 

To learn more about BLAST and how to conduct your own alignments, take a look at Field Museum Bioinformatics Director Felix Grewe's course covering Bioinformatics. 

Using Genomic Data 

Community Science and Biodiversity

There are hundreds of thousands of bird specimens in Field Museum's collections. Take a look at some of the ways these specimens are prepared and stored so that scientists and researchers can access and study them! 

Museum Specimens - Birds

Scientists use many pieces of evidence to determine evolutionary relatedness between species. One of these is using species’ genomes to examine similarity and differences in the genetic code. 

Genomic Analysis

Specimen Preparation - Clearing and Staining

This artist's rendering depicts a creature that lived as early as 400 million years ago, the Trilobite. 

Prehistoric Specimens 

In this activity and the next one, you will label similarities and differences you see in these two lichen specimens using only your eyes. 

Why Genomic Analysis? Part 1

In this activity and the previous one, you will label similarities and differences you see in these two lichen specimens using only your eyes. 

Why Genomic Analysis? Part 2

The Field Museum is home to millions of specimens from all over the world collected over the past hundred years and stored on-site in state of the art facilities.

Introduction to the Resource Kit

As you explore the modules in this kit, keep this graphic organizer open in a separate window. You can use the zoom, move, text or draw tools to take notes on what you learn about how museum collections can be and are used to study evolution and biodiversity!

Note Catcher

Herbarium sheets are a critical preservation tool that allowing scientists and plant-lovers to keep plant specimens from the field intact and ready to study for long periods of time. Learn more about what makes up an herbarium sheet looks like by exploring this image!

Specimen Preparation - Herbarium Sheets

Discover how researchers use Field Museum's millions of specimen to document and study evolution and the world's biodiversity.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Museum Collections and Research

Using Genomic Data