Rita M. Austin, Sabrina B. Sholts, LaShanda Williams, Logan Kistler, and Courtney A. Hofman

PNAS January 29, 2019 116 (5) 1471-1474

Biomolecular research has sparked a methodological revolution in the field of anthropology, and museums are now faced with the curatorial challenge of conserving and evaluating materials for these new methods. Since 2010, hundreds of genome-wide datasets from ancient human samples have been published, and thousands more have been generated; doubling the amount of data in the field of paleogenomics now requires less time than the publication of a single article (1). Technological advances in laboratory and bioinformatic approaches have also led to a new era in paleomicrobiology, in which entire ancient microbial communities can be recovered from various substrates, such as calcified dental calculus (2). Increasingly, large-scale datasets for other biomolecules, such as proteins and metabolites, are generated and integrated into multi-omic understandings of the human past (2).

Anthropological collections are important for science and society for reasons that include their potential applications for biomolecular research (3, 4). Ethical issues are central in the changing circumstances for ancient biomolecular information. Potential negative impacts on indigenous communities (such as when paleogenomic studies contradict traditional histories and undermine territorial or repatriation claims) have magnified the importance of community-based practices (5). Competition among ancient-DNA laboratories for museum samples has been likened to “the Wild West” (6), and more strictly regulating access to samples has been advocated to prevent “hoarding” (7). As stewards of collections that contain ancient biomolecules (e.g., isotopes, proteins, DNA, and metabolites), museums play a critical role among stakeholders in biomolecular research and should be responsive to such concerns 

Museums are also being inundated with destructive-sampling requests, underscoring the notion that collections and their biomolecules are finite resources. Anthropological collections, including ethnographic, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological, as well as human remains, are a source of unique insights into the history of our species, and it is an ethical imperative to preserve this information for future generations (8). Tasked with ensuring the scientific and societal longevity of their collections, museums consider a variety of criteria in making sampling decisions. Representing a unique perspective and a rich specimen repository, the position of museums in protecting, preserving, and providing materials for research should be included in biomolecular discussions.

Symposia such as our recent one at the 2018 meeting of the Society for American Archaeology suggest that an open dialogue about museum practices and policies is beneficial for all stakeholders. By drawing on examples from the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), we hope to see more take part in this conversation. Researchers and curators need to better address the challenges of curating ancient biomolecules, and we should, as a professional community, work toward the development and dissemination of best practices.

See more https://www.pnas.org/content/116/5/1471

Figure 1: Museum collections staff stand among the anthropological collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Museums are responsible for preserving collections and the information they contain for future generations. But in recent years, they’ve been given the increasingly challenging task of curating and conserving biomolecular data. Image credit: Chip Clark (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC).