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Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity

A genomics research lab and cryorepository built for modern museum biodiversity research.

90,000+

tissue, DNA, and RNA samples

200,000

sample capacity across −20 °C, −96 °C, and liquid nitrogen storage

1 of few

clean rooms in the Pacific available for ancient DNA work

Safeguarding genetic heritage

PCMB is the primary cryorepository for the Museum and one of the only cryorepositories dedicated to non-human specimens in the state, housing samples from marine, terrestrial, and freshwater organisms throughout the Pacific — many representing threatened, endangered, or extinct species. The aim: a genetic representative of every species found in Hawai‘i, focusing on the taxa most threatened with extinction.

Staff carry out wildlife forensics, conservation and population genetics, biosecurity analysis, parentage studies, pathogen detection, and evolutionary research, informing action and policy for state, federal, and non-governmental agencies. Next-generation sequencing lets researchers tap the Museum’s historical collections to reconstruct relationships of Hawai‘i taxa — including long-extinct species like the endemic amastrid snails.

Sequencing the Museum's invertebrate collections at the Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity.Open on YouTube

Research

6 publications

Papers, reports and books by Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity staff, with the PDF where there is one — readable in place and open to questions.

All Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity publications ›

  1. 2026

    Hidden in Plain Sight: A Novel Symbiotic Haplosclerid Sponge Species Revealed by its Mitochondrial Genome

    Khaki, M.A., Vicente, J., Hill, R.T., Lavrov, D.V. · Journal of Evolutionary Biology

    DOI

  2. 2024

    Phylogenetic reconstruction illuminates the evolutionary history of freshwater to marine transition in the subfamily Haloveliinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae)

    Ye, Z., Z.Z. Jin, D.A. Polhemus, S.Q. Wang, S.Y. Fu, H.H. Yang, M. Qiao, and W.J. Bu · Systematic Entomology

    DOI

  3. 2023

    Molecular and phylogenetic datasets for the Asterophryinae frogs of New Guinea with additional data on lifestyle, geography, and elevation

    Hill, E.C., M.J. Jarman, C.J. Fraser, D.F. Gao, E.R. Henry, A.R. Fisher, B. Iova, A. Allison, and M.A. Butler · Data in Brief

    Read

  4. 2022

    Resolving the deep phylogeny: Implications for early adaptive radiation, cryptic, and present-day ecological diversity of Papuan microhylid frogs

    Hill, E.C., C.J. Fraser, D.F. Gao, M.J. Jarman, E.R. Henry, B. Iova, A. Allison, and M.A. Butler · Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

    DOI

  5. 2022

    Phylogenetic systematics and distribution of Pomacea sordida (Swainson, 1823) and Pomacea intermedia (Férussac, in Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) (Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae)

    Barbosa, K.P., K.A. Hayes, R. Do V. Vilela, H.S. Barbosa, C.R. Marchi, and S.C. Thiengo · Malacologia

    DOI

  6. 2022

    Transcriptome-based Phylogeny of the Semi-aquatic Bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha) Reveals Patterns of Lineage Expansion in a Series of New Adaptive Zones

    Armisén, D., S. Viala, I.d.R.S. Cordeiro, A.J.J. Crumière, E. Hendaoui, A. Le Bouquin, W. Duchemin, E. Santos, W. Toubiana, A. Vargas-Lowman, C.F. Burguez Floriano, D.A. Polhemus, Y.-h. Wang, L. Rowe, F.F.F. Moreira, and A. Khila · Molecular Biology and Evolution

    DOI

In the lab

Gel electrophoresis of DNA amplified from native Hawaiian land snails.
Gel electrophoresis of DNA amplified from native Hawaiian land snails.
Steptocephalus mackini, an ephemeral pool fairy shrimp native to Arizona, found at Ka‘ena Point on O‘ahu — identified, and its likely source traced, via a DNA barcode by PCMB staff.
Steptocephalus mackini, an ephemeral pool fairy shrimp native to Arizona, found at Ka‘ena Point on O‘ahu — identified, and its likely source traced, via a DNA barcode by PCMB staff.
Next-generation sequencing lets us draw on the Museum’s historical collections to reconstruct relationships of Hawai‘i taxa, including long-extinct endemic amastrids.
Next-generation sequencing lets us draw on the Museum’s historical collections to reconstruct relationships of Hawai‘i taxa, including long-extinct endemic amastrids.

Research

Hawai‘i Barcode of Life

As part of the All Species Hawai‘i initiative and the Hawai‘i Biological Survey, the Hawai‘i Barcode of Life project aims to produce a DNA sequence for all plants and animals in Hawai‘i — complementing more than 22 million vouchered natural history specimens with molecular identification. Once inventoried, PCMB’s genetic resources are shared through the Global Genome Biodiversity Network, the Barcode of Life Databases, and PILSBRy.

Hawai‘i Barcode of Life

Staff

1 people

Contact

PCMB collaborates with partners across Hawai‘i, including the University of Hawai‘i, DLNR, the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, Pacific Rim Conservation, USDA, and USFWS. Phone: 808-847-8217.

samantha.shizuru@bishopmuseum.org

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