Global biobanks are key---most biodiversity is in developing countries that lack biobank infrastructure

Despite efforts by several countries to establish biobanks that collect phenotypic and genetic informations, the creation of biodiversity biobanks that collect nonhuman samples is still lagging behind.1,11,12 In a 2016 publication, a PubMed search for the keywords “biobank,” “biobanking,” “genebank,” and “gene bank” revealed that only 9 of 498 search results referred to animal biobanks.13 The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories' (ISBER) official journal, Biopreservation and Biobanking, even released a call for more manuscript submissions related to environmental biospecimen biobanking.14

Biodiversity biobanks should be established and supported globally as a response to the expected loss of global biodiversity, particularly in areas with strong human–wildlife interactions and habitat modification.15–17 However, one study noted that even biologically megadiverse developing countries (MDCs) lack infrastructures to maintain biological collections.12

MDCs house ∼70% of the planet's terrestrial biological diversity recognized by UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre.12,18,19 These countries are Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, the United States, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Venezuela.12,20 In 2002, delegates of these countries created the Cancun Declaration of Like-Minded Megadiversity Countries, formally creating the “Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries” to actively participate in issues related to biodiversity.21

Given the lack of biodiversity biobanks globally, this article highlights the need for biodiversity biobanks and the issues encountered in their establishment and maintenance. The difficulties faced and the actions taken by existing biodiversity biobanks in MDCs to overcome these obstacles will also provide what needs to be done and improved by up-and-coming biodiversity biobanks. Specifically, we looked into some biodiversity biobanks from three industrialized MDCs, namely Australia, China, and the United States.

The Need for Banking Nonhuman Samples

Biobanks' significant role in collecting samples for pathological purposes was already recognized as a driving force for advancing basic and translational research, particularly drug discovery and development.5,6,22 Biodiversity biobanks that collect nonhuman samples such as plants, animals, or microorganisms, even though often regrettably overlooked, have also become important resource centers for human health, biodiversity, and conservation research.9,23,24