Why a Virtual Global Biorepository? –
Towards a Global Network of Biorepositories
Ole SebergNatural History Museum of Denmark
October 10th 2011
Natural History CollectionsNational Museum of Natural History, WashingtonThe Natural History Museum, London
Stockholm Berlin Copenhagen Paris
Natural History Museum of Denmark
GGI and Environmental Biorepositories
What are the problems?
• The Biological Problem – the Agony of Choice
• The Status, Scale, and Organisationof existent repositories
• The Quality Issue• The Informatics Problem• Limitations in access
Natural History Museum of Denmark
The Number of Eukaryote Species on Earth
Species
Catalogued Predicted ± SE
Animalia 953,434 7,700,000 958,000
Chromista 13,033 27,500 30,500
Fungi 43,271 611,000 297,000
Plantae 215,644 298,000 8,200
Protozoa 8,118 36,400 6,690
Total 1,233,500 8,740,000 1,300,000
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Mora, C. et al. 2011. How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?PLoS Biology: e100127.
The Number of Eukaryote Species in the Ocean
Species
Catalogued Predicted ± SE
Animalia 171,082 2,150,000 145,000
Chromista 4,859 7,400 9,640
Fungi 1,097 5,320 11,100
Plantae 8,600 16,600 9,130
Protozoa 8,118 36,400 6,690
Total 193,756 2,210,000 182,000
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Mora, C. et al. 2011. How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?PLoS Biology: e100127.
The Number of “Known” Eukaryote Species on the Globe
Species
Catalogued Predicted %
Grand Total 1,438,769 10,960,000 13
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Mora, C. et al. 2011. How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?PLoS Biology: e100127.
The ”Species Scape”
Species
Catalogued Predicted %
Grand Total 1,438,769 10,960,000 13
Species
Catalogued Predicted %
Grand Total 1,750,000 14,000,000 13
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Groombrige, B. & Jenkins, M. D. 2002. World Alas of Biodiversity: p. 19
Mora, C. et al. 2011. How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?PLoS Biology: e100127.
What to Preserve? – Are all Species Equal?
Natural History Museum of Denmark
• The charismatic species?• The nearly extinct species?• The threatened species? • The ecologically important/unique species?• The economically important and potentially
important species?• The evolutionary important/unique species?• The taxonomically important/unique
species?• The genetically important/unique species? • The carriers of important/unique genes?
.........etc.
What to ‘Collect’? – Systematics and the Agony of Choice
Natural History Museum of Denmark
What to Preserve? – Are all Species Equal?
Natural History Museum of Denmark
• Avoid unnecessary duplications• Decide what to collect and exchange• Decide what to dispose of
• The need for immediate access• The replacement cost• The irreplaceable objects
VS.
Summary:
• What biological resources should be preserved?
• Who should be responsible for their preservation?
• How can Biorepositories cope with the vast quantity of information and products emerging from the genomics revolution?
Natural History Museum of Denmark
GGI and Environmental Biorepositories
What are the problems?
• The Biological Problem – the Agony of Choice
• The Status, Scale, and Organisationof existent repositories
• The Quality Issue• The Informatics Problem• Limitations in access
Natural History Museum of Denmark
32%
54%
9%5%
1-500
501-5.000
5.001-10.000
10.001-
35%
29%
24%
12%
1-500
501-5.000
5.001-10.000
10.001-
Relative Sizes of Invertebrate Collections
DNA
Tissue
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Natural History Collections/Biorepositories
Lessons from Europe
Relative Sizes of Mammals Collections
Tissue
47%
37%
11%5%
1-500
501-5.000
5.001-10.000
10.001-Tissue
61%
31%
8%
1-500
501-5.000
5.001-10.000
Tissue
DNA
Natural History Collections/Biorepositories
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Lessons from Europe
GGI and Environmental Biorepositories
What are the problems?
• The Biological Problem – the Agony of Choice
• The Status, Scale, and Organisationof existent repositories
• The Quality Issue• The Informatics Problem• Limitations in access
Natural History Museum of Denmark
The quality issue
Natural History Museum of Denmark
•Quality management/quality assurance across all BRCs•Authenticity of the samples, accuracy of
labelling, databases and bioinformatics •Standards for ensuring long-term stability
of samples•Standards for citation of material
Natural History Collections/BiorepositoriesLesson from Europe
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Long-Term Storage
Liquid Nitrogen
- 80ºC
- 20ºC
Alcohol, silica gel or 5ºC
Pro
tists
Fung
iA
lgae
Lich
ens
Pla
nts
See
dsB
irds
Mam
mal
sFi
shO
ther
ver
t. In
vert
ebra
tes
Oth
er In
vert
.
Tissue
Natural History Museum of Denmark
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Long-Term Storage
Liquid Nitrogen
- 80ºC
- 20ºC
5ºC
Pro
tists
Fung
iA
lgae
Lich
ens
Pla
nts
See
dsB
irds
Mam
mal
sFi
shO
ther
ver
t. In
vert
ebra
tes
Oth
er In
vert
.
DNA
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Natural History Collections/BiorepositoriesLessons from Europe
BRC Task Force Products
Biological Resource Centers (BRC)
• 66-page report released by the OECD in March, 2001
• 7 chapters:
1. Need for BRCs
2. Increasing Challenges of Biodiversity and Genomics
3. Long-term Financial Support
4. Ensuring Quality & Expertise
5. Access & Restrictions
6. Global Network of BRCs
7. Call for Action
Natural History Museum of Denmark Natural History Museum of Denmark
GGI and Environmental Biorepositories
What are the problems?
• The Biological Problem – the Agony of Choice
• The Status, Scale, and Organisationof existent repositories
• The Quality Issue• The Informatics Problem• Limitations in access
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Towards an Integrated Global Network of Biorepository
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Establishment of a Global internet platform for Biorepositories, by
• Liaise with National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, www.gbif.org) to secure optimal information exchange and reliability.
• Establishing and expanding types and levels of database documentation (e.g. extension of ABCDDNA) and evaluate possible demands on database language modules
GGI and Environmental Biorepositories
What are the problems?
• The Biological Problem – the Agony of Choice
• The Status, Scale, and Organisationof existent repositories
• The Quality Issue• The Informatics Problem• Limitations in access
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Factors limiting access
•Protection health and safety•Import/export regulations•Intellectual property rights (IPR)
protection•Material transfer agreements•Protection of commercial rights
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Access and Benefit Sharing
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Access and Benefit Sharing
Policy ImplementationLessons from Europe
52%
30%
19%
59%
30%
11%
89%
7%4%
48%
37%
15%
48%
30%
22%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
DNA exchange Materialtransfer
agreement
Implemtationof CBD &
CITES
Implemtationof IPR
Benefitsharing
No answer
No
Yes
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Policy Implementation
Lesson from Europe
26%
0%
63%
11%
Individual researcher
Department
Institution
No answer
Natural History Museum of Denmark
What should a virtual biorepository network provide?
•Preserve global natural genetic diversity •Facilitate research and good scientific
practice in biodiversity genomics•Secure easy access and exchange of non-human DNA and tissue samples•Act as repositories for specimens,
samples used in publications
Natural History Museum of Denmark
What should a virtual biorepository network provide?
•High quality (perhaps even certified) identifi- cation of samples
•Standardized rating of the accuracy of identification, sampling location and other data to allow evaluation of collection items
and data•Coordinated and sustainable access to
samples genetic resources
Natural History Museum of Denmark
What should a virtual biorepository network provide?
•Improvement of collection quality (by knowledge transfer, specialisation, disaster
management)•Integration of DNA/tissue, specimen, and sequence data networks•Improved safety by exchange of material between DNA and tissue banks•Best practices guidelines and standards for linkage and accessibility of samples – e.g., minimally though high-quality digital images
Natural History Museum of Denmark
AcknowledgementFinancial support by SYNTHESYS and EDIT
Grants from the Danish Natural Sciences Research Council
Logistical and moral support from the SYNTHESYS Team at the Natural History Museum (London) in particular from Rob Huxley and
Gemma Maldar
Samantha Mohun (Natural History Museum, London) and Tina Jørgensen (Natural History Museum of Denmark) for compiling the
questionnaire
Birgit Gemeinholzer and Holger Zetzsche (Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem), Isabel Rey (Museo Nacional
Ciencias Naturale, Madrid), Gitte Petersen (NHMD)
for their efforts!
Natural History Museum of Denmark
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