A new tissue bank will enable the museum to preserve the DNA of species ranging from the birds to fish.
Natural science curator Kane Fleury said the tissue bank was really important to the preservation of specimens displayed in the museum.
"We are able to preserve the physical specimen itself to put on display, and maintain to a very high quality the genetic information that goes alongside it."
The combination of both was very important.
The stabilising process for the displays often meant the DNA of the specimen was degraded.
Museum staff were now able to preserve a sample of the DNA at a high standard.
The bank had 2ml vials that contained small samples of tissues in 95% ethanol, and were stored at -20degC.
Natural science assistant curator Allison Miller said Tuhura was the first museum in the South Island to create a tissue bank.
It created a reference database that made it easier for researchers to identify different species.
"It almost acts like a police fingerprint system, so if you pull a fingerprint from a crime scene ... you don’t know who that belongs to unless you’ve got the police database.
"It will help us to not only understand the native taonga or species in Otago, but to also better understand the collection items [at the museum]."
