Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity (PCMB)
Discovery through DNA
The Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity (PCMB) is expanding the knowledge and understanding of the natural and cultural history of Hawai‘i and the Pacific region through molecular research. The laboratory is an integral component of the Bishop Museum Natural Sciences biological collections, housing genetic material at ultra-cold temperatures for long term preservation. Research findings are disseminated through publication of scholarly reports, peer-reviewed journal articles and professional presentations.
PCMB staff collaborate with scientific, educational, and cultural partners and programs.
The use of the facilities at the PCMB by researchers and students is encouraged. If you are interested in the activities of the PCMB, please contact the laboratory manager for more information.
Research Priorities
All Species DNA bank
- Collection and storage of genetic material (extracted DNA and tissues) of biota from the Hawaiian Islands and Pacific region.
- Providing aliquots of DNA through the destructive sampling of the Bishop Museum Natural Science collections.
Molecular Biodiversity, Systematics, Ecology, and Conservation
- Investigating biodiversity and systematics of native species among the Hawaiian Islands and within the Pacific region.
- Determining hybridization within native and non-native Hawaiian organisms.
- Exploring the phenotype and genotype in relation to the ecology of a species.
- Population genetics of rare, endangered, and safety-net species.
- Investigating evolutionary relationships between species, such as crustose coralline algae and Caconemobius splash-zone and cave cricket species.
- Identification of plant roots in lava tube caves used by native Hawaiian invertebrates.
- Using molecular techniques to confirm the identity and origin of unknown, cryptic, or non-native species.
- Barcoding of Hawaiian fish species.
Molecular bio-anthropology
- Determining the diversity and origins of "canoe plants" in relation to the migration of Polynesians to Hawai‘i.
Click here for a searchable database of PCMB collections.
