THE OCEAN GENOME LEGACY CENTER
A nonprofit marine research facility and genome bank dedicated to exploring and preserving the threatened biological diversity of the sea
THE OCEAN IS LOSING BIODIVERSITY.
WE’re TRYING TO CAPTURE IT BEFORE IT’S GONE.
“By volume, about 99 percent of the habitable portion of our planet is underwater,” says Dan Distel, who directs Northeastern’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center. To explore and preserve the wealth of information contained in the ocean, the center collects DNA samples—over 28,000 so far—and has made that collection available to researchers around the world.
RECENT NEWS AND IMPACT
A newly discovered clam eats rock, and no one knows why
Researchers from Northeastern’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center have discovered a new genus and species of shipworm burrowing into the bedrock of a river in the Philippines. The pale, blobby creature, they say in a published paper, has evolved to devour a home in rocks and excrete sand. Their work is part of the Philippine Mollusk Symbiont project, a collaboration led by universities in the United States and the Philippines to simultaneously document the biodiversity of the islands and search for compounds that could be used in human medicine.
By Benjamin Bertch and Adam Fischer
Going deep on the mitochondrial genome
You might know that many animals in the deep sea evolved from shallow water ancestors, but did you ever wonder what happens to their genes when they make that evolutionary trip? Researchers at OGL asked that question by looking at the mitochondria of two families...
The Wacky Underwater World
What animal lives more than 250 years but never eats a thing? If you guessed the deep-sea tubeworm Escarpia laminata, you would be correct—and also probably a deep-sea biologist! Escarpia laminata lives near deep-sea cold seeps, places where...
OGL’s Genome Resource Rescue Program in the NY Times
We are excited to share that the New York Times has published an article about OGL and our Genome Resource Rescue program. The article highlights 466 frozen flatworm fragments donated to OGL by Dr. Marian Litvaitis prior to her retirement, and our ongoing work with...
in collaboration with:
TOOLS FOR RESEARCHERS
SPECIMEN CATALOG
The Ocean Genome Legacy catalog can be searched by scientific name, taxa, and collection location (ocean or country).
SEAFOOD BARCODING
Ocean Genome Legacy offers the seafood industry and general public genetic testing for species identification based on FDA published protocols.
REQUEST SAMPLES
Requesting samples from our repository is easy. Simply familiarize yourself with our process, and connect with us through an easy-to-use form.
DEPOSIT SAMPLES
At Ocean Genome Legacy, we rely primarily on the scientific community to grow our collection. Learn how to help expand our catalog.
EXTERNAL LINKS
POLICIES, FORMS, AND CITATIONS
We at Ocean Genome Legacy are dedicated to providing the best genomic data available to our users. We strive to follow current Best Practices in acquiring and maintaining our collection of biological specimens. We adhere strictly to all relevant permitting for collection by region and species. We maintain accurate, detailed records of the specimens we receive, preserve them using state-of-the-art techniques, and perform rigorous quality control on all extractions.
In order to help assure the quality, accuracy and compliance of our collection, we ask that depositors read and adhere to our policies and practices.
Please be sure to include copies of all relevant permits with your deposit.
OGL Sample Collecting Protocols
Reference Citations
For all publications concerning materials (or data derived from materials) distributed by Ocean Genome Legacy (OGL), whether tissue, genomic DNA, tissue products or associated data, an appropriate citation must be made of the material and/or data source. The proper format for such reference citation is:
“OGL Accession ID [Specimen ID #(s)]. The Ocean Genome Legacy Center. Northeastern University. Published on the web at: ogl.northeastern.edu/catalog.”
Communication of Citations
OGL requests that all researchers citing OGL and/or OGL materials and/or OGL data in their publications inform OGL of such publications and citations by sending an e-mail with the relevant information through our Information Request form. This will help OGL measure the effective utilization of our biorepository, and will allow us to direct other researchers to your work.
Ocean Genome Legacy maintains a local copy of the FDA Reference Standard Sequence Library for Seafood Identification (RSSL). For more information about the FDA RSSL, please see the FDA’s documentation. This file is provided by OGL as a courtesy. OGL is not responsible for the accuracy of its content.
FDA RSSL from September 2018 (.xlsx file)