"The setup of FileMaker means that you don't have to be a computer genius to understand it. FileMaker forces you to be organised and efficient, and is absolutely pivotal to the success of the molecular biology part of our research group."

Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum Evolves Unique Research Methodology with FileMaker

One of London's most enduring landmarks, the Natural History Museum has promoted the discovery, understanding, enjoyment and responsible use of the natural world for over 150 years. Its collections and exhibitions are famous across the globe, and its research continues to push scientific boundaries to expand our knowledge of the world around us.

When the museum's Department of Zoology began looking at the evolution of parasitism using molecular tools in 1996, (funded by the Wellcome Trust), and developing a database of lifecycle features of tapeworms (Cestoda) in 2005, (funded by the Natural Environment Research Council), it quickly recognised a need for an accessible and easy to use central database to record and share the mass of data that would inevitably be generated during the course of the projects.

After seeing how easily a colleague at the University of Connecticut had developed an extensive Global Cestode Information Database with FileMaker, Parasitologist, Dr. Tim Littlewood, turned to the software to replicate this success.

"When we began, there was no single centralised repository able to bring together specimens of parasites from around the world, specifically for molecular analysis, so developing such a database became our first priority," said Tim. "Also, I have always used a Macintosh computer because of the early development of molecular analytical tools on this platform, so I needed a solution that would not only deliver a secure and accessible database, but one flexible enough to run as well on a Mac as it does on a PC – and FileMaker was the obvious choice."

After securing grants from the Wellcome Trust and the Natural Environment Research Council to obtain the FileMaker software, the department had its Tissue Database and Cestode Lifecycle Database up and running in approximately two weeks.

According to Tim: "For us it is absolutely critical to know what specimens we have, what they do and where they come from. It's also vital we keep track of exactly what we are doing with them at every stage of the research programme.

"We have specimens coming in from Parasitologists based all over the world. Many of the specimens are very rare and, because of the costs of going out into the field and tracking down the animals the parasites live in, they have a high fiscal value – not to mention their scientific significance."

As a result, it was vital that the research team had complete confidence in the integrity of the FileMaker database. Tim again: "By querying each of the databases we can get a complete view of the data we have to work with to see what questions we are able to address and what projects we can actively engage in. This is absolutely pivotal to the success of the molecular biology part of our research group and our understanding of the data we collect."

The team has now also invested in a FileMaker server in order to publish the Tissue Database onto the web where it is in constant use by around 50 Parasitologists across the world.

Tim states very clearly he is a scientist, not a technologist, and cites the ease of use of the FileMaker solution as one of its key benefits: "You don't have to learn to program to get the most out of FileMaker. It is straightforward and easy to use. And, thanks to an automated data fields set up, you don't have to be a computer or database 'geek' in order to use it!" says Tim.

With an established and successful history in basic biological research, FileMaker also has a bright future ahead. Tim and his team are planning on new projects that will expand the FileMaker applications to build a comprehensive information management system that, when interrogated, will deliver inferred parasite life cycles from the fragmented data set.

Tim again: "We want to use this as a tool to predict how any given parasite is or might be transmitted, what host it might live in and so on. From there, we want to bring together our Tissue and Cestode Lifecycle Databases, and integrate my colleague's Global Cestode Information Database, to create a comprehensive facility – accessible for all our research purposes. This would be impossible without FileMaker, which has helped to make our research methods far more efficient, organised and, I firmly believe, quite unique."