LABORATORIES
Luomus supports and conducts research by producing its own laboratory analyses in the course of research projects. Diverse measurement methods help us see and understand the past, the present and the future. Luomus has two laboratories of its own: the Molecular Systematics Laboratory (or the DNA Laboratory), and the Laboratory of Chronology.
MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS LABORATORY (DNA LABORATORY)
The Luomus Molecular Systematics Laboratory, or the DNA Laboratory, operates in the facilities of the Zoology Unit. It provides research groups from the Luomus Zoology and Botany Units with the environment they need to use methods of molecular genetics in their studies. The research at the Laboratory relates to the systematics of animals, plants or fungi, biogeography as well as conservation and evolutionary biology.
THE LABORATORY OF CHRONOLOGY
The Luomus Laboratory of Chronology is an internationally unique centre of expertise in dating and isotope methods, with its core duties comprising radiocarbon dating, luminescence dating and stable isotope analyses. In addition to developing and teaching these in research areas, the Laboratory of Chronology also offers commercial analysis services.
The Chronology Team can determine the age and isotope ratios of organic and man-made materials, such as mammoth bone, tree rings, bricks, pottery and clam shells. From individual determinations, the analyses move towards more extensive analyses, through which full timelines of environmental change or human action can be compared. The methods used can also provide numeric data regarding the ratio of fossil and renewable material in a sample.
Cooperation
In terms of geochemical and isotope geology determinations, Luomus cooperates closely with the University of Helsinki’s Department of Geosciences and Geography, the Finland Isotope Geosciences Laboratory (SIGL) and the Nordsim-Vegacenter laboratory of the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Naturhistoriska riksmuseet). This cooperation grants the access to a wide variety of research instruments.