Tag Archives for ZSL

Biobanking on a Shoestring

Written by Louise Gibson, ZSL biobank manager at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

Lurking in the depths of the Zoological Society of London (almost 200 years old), are vast collections of frozen, wet, and dry biological specimens. Amassed over several decades, procurement of these items has come via scientific fieldwork researching wildlife conservation, standard pathological investigation of captive animal mortality, contributions from Border Force and police wildlife crime investigations, and from the occasional public donations, dropped off on our doorstep.

Photo of octopus preserved in formalin – a octopus was left on the doorstep of ZSL, 2021, donor unknown. © Louise Gibson/ ZSL

Although the collections are extensive, knowledge of their contents is limited to those who have collected samples or managed them, many of which have long since left ZSL. Potential was seen to create a biobanking programme with the objective of preserving the collections and the knowledge that comes with them and in turn creating an accessible biological archive open to the scientific community and beyond. As a not-for-profit charity with minimal resources, we are aiming to achieve this on a shoestring budget.

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It’s All In The Subconscious

Biologically speaking, women (in general) are built lighter than men and with less physical strength. In the past this has been used to decide that women are therefore weaker in all ways, including in intelligence, and even worse, in worth. Putting aside those people whose brains are wired a little strangely and believe it’s genuinely ok to be racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, etc, society at large, full of good, caring and wonderful people, still has a curious way of putting men first.

It is often by accident and sometimes it’s even in an errant attempt to put women first; for example I recently read a headline that said ‘Top Female Scientist Discovers…’. Great! But if it had been a male scientist, it wouldn’t have said ‘Top Male Scientist Discovers…’, it would have said top scientist. This perpetuates the idea that a scientist is a man unless otherwise stated. Another example aimed at a more general audience is that infuriating feminine hygiene product advert that has a sassy DJ jumping up and down saying ‘As a woman, I can step aside or step up’. Erm actually, men have the choice of whether to step aside or step up too. Being trod down and overlooked is not just for women. Continue reading →