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
OGL Dives into Biosphere 2
There is no Earth 2, but there is Biosphere 2—an experimental ecosystem entirely isolated from Earth’s atmosphere and ocean. Built more than 30 years ago in Arizona, Biosphere 2 was created as an experimental life raft designed to test the feasibility of creating...
It’s a slug! It’s a snail! No, it’s Velutinidae!
Snails are mollusks with distinctive spiral shells. Slugs are snail-like mollusks that have no shells. Easy to tell apart, right? But not so fast. Mollusks of the family Velutinidae are small marine mollusks that have a shell like a snail—but that shell is small...
The Ocean Genome Legacy Center Partners with 1% for the Planet
Nahant, Massachusetts, January 24, 2023 – The Ocean Genome Legacy Center (OGL) is a new Environmental Partner of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of more than 5,400 business and individual members that give back to support environmental nonprofits. “At OGL, we...
The Ocean Genome Legacy Center strives to create a safe and welcoming workplace while providing services that support scientific advancement, environmental sustainability, and environmental and social justice. OGL is committed to building a culture based on encouragement and acceptance—supporting equal treatment of all people, regardless of age, culture, race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, politics, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. OGL supports respect for the planet, its people, and the natural world.
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.
The Ocean Genome Legacy Biorepository at Northeastern University can offer researchers:
1. Assistance and advice in formulating and drafting sample management plans for grant submissions. Boiler plate language for proposals can be found here.
2. A compliant, secure, and publicly accessible biorepository for your samples and associated metadata.
3. Submission of your sample metadata to public data aggregators/servers (GBIF, OBIS, and GGBN).
4. Continued access to your samples after submission and the ability to temporarily embargo sample and data distribution to accommodate your research and publication plans.
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)