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Home / Departments/Department of Biology/Angelo State Natural History Collections/Tissue Loan Policy

Tissue Loan Request Policy

Individuals that request tissues from the ASNHC Tissue Collection must provide answers to the application questions below as well as abide by the posted conditions. If the project is to be undertaken by a graduate student, the request should be accompanied by a letter from the student’s academic advisor who will be required to confirm that the student has the necessary expertise and funding to carry out the work.  Questions about tissue availability and completed loan applications should be sent to the Curator of Frozen Tissues, Dr. Loren Ammerman (loren.ammerman@angelo.edu).  Applications may also be mailed to Loren Ammerman, Curator of Frozen Tissues, Department of Biology, Angelo State Natural History Collection, Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX  76909.

Application

Please provide the following information to assist in evaluation of your request.  If the application is approved, you will be asked to sign a tissue loan contract form that will accompany the loan.

  1. Specifically, what material is requested (which specimens with ASNHC or ASK numbers, and which tissue types in order of preference)? Which preservation for shipment would you prefer (preserved in lysis buffer, ethanol, or on dry ice)?
  2. How many total samples will be included in this study? How many come from other sources (e.g., your own collecting, other museum loan requests, donations from collaborators, etc.)?
  3. What is the purpose of the research?
  4. Which genes will be sequenced if the project is molecular?
  5. How will shipment be paid? Please provide a FedEx account number.
  6. Please provide an appropriate shipping address, email, and phone number (necessary for FedEx shipments) should the loan be approved.
  7. The borrower must demonstrate equal reciprocity relative to the Tissue Loan (i.e., destructive) request. The borrower or their collaborators can meet this stipulation by completing any of the following. Describe which of the following criteria best meets your interaction with the ASNHC:
    1. Deposit research material (specimens, tissues, etc.) deemed of equal scientific value in an accessible museum collection (your own, the ASNHC, or another collection). Deposition of specimens in a museum not accredited by an appropriate scientific society (e.g., American Society of Mammalogists) or other professional entity (e.g., American Alliance of Museums) must meet the approval of the Curator of Frozen Tissues.
    2. Provide funding towards ASNHC fieldwork to replace material associated with the loan.
    3. Applicants who cannot fulfill (a) or (b) above may be asked to donate monetarily to help defray the cost of acquiring and maintaining the collection, as well as the handling, subsampling, and packaging of the loan. This fee will be calculated based on materials required to ship, size of the loan, and rarity of the specimens requested. The requested donation may range from $10-$100 per specimen and will be determined at the discretion of the Curators of the ASNHC. We encourage all researchers to include reimbursement costs for such Tissue Loan service funds when preparing research grant proposals. Donations can be made here, evidence of donation will be required to release the loan for shipment.

Conditions

  1. Acknowledgement in Scientific Publications – Any publication resulting from the loan of tissues must acknowledge “Angelo State Natural History Collection” as the source of tissues. Catalog numbers (ASNHC; preferable) or tissue numbers (ASK; if catalog number unavailable) should also be listed explicitly. We also request a copy of each publication be sent electronically. In cases where vouchers of tissues are housed at an institution other than the ASNHC, the voucher-holding institution will be contacted for approval of the tissue loan request and the catalog number of the voucher should be cited.
  2. Additional Projects – Tissues are to be used for the purpose outlined in the application. Please return unused tissue at the end of the project. Any further studies or transfer of tissues or DNA to other institutions or researchers requires written approval.
  3. Specimen Identification – Angelo State University and the ASNHC are not responsible for verifying the identification of tissues or vouchers. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of information concerning information in the database, however the ultimate responsibility lies with the borrower to confirm information is correct.  Specimens can be requested or examined on site. Any updates to specimen identifications should be reported back to ensure greater data accuracy.
  4. Data – All sequence data resulting from the use of tissues from Angelo State Natural History Collections must be submitted to GenBank or a comparable archive to provide access to data by members of the scientific community. GenBank numbers should be provided to the Angelo State Natural History Collection at the conclusion of the project.
  5. Permits – The borrower is responsible for ensuring legal eligibility for transfer and receipt of tissues being requested.
  6. Intellectual Property Rights – These materials cannot be used for profit or patent applications. If such application is appropriate, then the legal rights of the country of origin of tissues and Angelo State University must be negotiated in advance.