Gröna Handlingar - Dynamiskt bevarande av organiskt material

Sammanfattning: Gene banks have in one form or another existed for thousands of years. They serve the purpose of repository for biological material. They can take the shape of a botanical garden, of an aquarium, or as a laboratory where the freezers are stuffed full with genetic resources. Sometimes as tissue samples or seeds, and sometimes as strands of DNA. The intention is to preserve, although the reasons may differ. There are a great deal of similarities between gene banks and their siblings in preservation, the archives, yet there is very little in the way of research when it comes to this familial bond. How do archives and gene banks differ? What practices do they have in common? The supreme lack of comparison between the two makes it a field ripe for study, a white spot on the map ready to be explored. This thesis has attempted to apply archival theory, more specifically the theoretical model known as the records continuum, onto gene banks. After concluding my analysis and having reviewed the conclusions, the model has shown that it is indeed possible to integrate gene banks into archival science. It revealed some weaknesses with the way some gene banks handle their material and suggested solutions to these problems. The continuum-model also reveals several other boons to gene banks which they can draw from archival science to evolve, extend or modify their practices; that this new interdisciplinary field is certainly worth exploring. This means there is a whole new arena for research within archival science. Something which possibly will be of great benefit to both in the end. This could greatly evolve the way biological archival material is organized and cared for.