The biological (genetic) diversity of parasitic organisms, and of parasitic worms in particular, is generating a new surge of interest in their study within world science. Collections of parasitic organisms, including worms, are key scientific units that ensure the storage and provision of material for various research studies. Working with such zoological collections has its own specifics. Their maintenance, replenishment and development (primary and secondary fixation of alcohol collections, preparation and mounting of permanent slides, fixation and preparation of special specimens in various media, incorporation into the main holdings, maintenance of voucher specimens, etc.) requires substantial labor, the use of fairly expensive special materials (fixative fluids, special vials, cardboard and wooden boxes, etc.), and the installation of new storage facilities (special cabinets, shelving, and, more recently, mobile storage units — so-called «compactors» — and freezer units for storing tissue and DNA). Working with zoological collections requires qualified personnel combining technical skills with deep scientific knowledge.
The quality of biological collection holdings is determined by the number and diversity of storage units and by conditions ensuring the reliable preservation of biological material unchanged. The accelerating pace of research on parasitic organisms and their properties is accompanied by a growing need among researchers for the timely acquisition of required specimens from a given collection, as well as rapid access to information about the preserved objects. The information required by researchers is diverse in nature and includes data on the organisms' position in the modern classification system, their morphology, location within hosts, host range, and zoogeography.
The information provided is needed not only by parasitologist researchers but also by biologists working on fundamental problems of biodiversity, including the comprehensive study of species distribution and extinction arising from both natural causes and human activity. In these cases, the collection of parasitic worms, alongside other biological collections, becomes unique and irreplaceable and can be used in many studies as a reference collection.
In light of the above, the Helminthological Museum of the Center for Parasitology, IEE RAS, can function as a Shared Use Center, providing the holdings of its zoological and phytonematological collections of parasitic worms (including voucher specimens) to staff of research institutes and other institutions, for addressing questions related to the biodiversity, morphology, taxonomy, distribution and host range of helminths.
The main tasks that must be addressed for the museum's operation and functioning are:
- Inventorying and replenishing the holdings of the Helminthological Museum; laboratory processing of newly received material, and identification of material from the Museum's general collection.
- Preserving the holdings. Reviewing the condition of parasitological material stored in liquid media (alcohol, formalin).
- Information support. Compiling catalogs containing data on each species' systematic position, host range, localization, sites of discovery, the collectors and identifiers of the material, and its location within the collection, and entering these data into the Museum's database.
- Creating local and global versions of the database of the Helminthological Museum of the RAS.