![]() It is our responsibility to safeguard this resource, to contribute to the greater global good of humanity,” Anglin added. We have to do everything we can to ensure that our collections will be available for future generations. This is because many things have disappeared from where they were originally collected, and it is now difficult to get official permission for collecting biodiversity in the field. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure backup facility for the worlds crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic. “However, it is extremely important, because if we lost this material, I estimate that we would be unable to replace 70% of the collection, if we didn’t have a safety backup. “The CIP gene bank’s combination of seeds, in vitro and cryopreservation makes managing and backing up that biodiversity a labor-intensive process,” she said. Anglin is thus exploring options for backing it up elsewhere. ![]() Cryopreservation is a cost-effective long-term option for safeguarding potato biodiversity, but CIP’s cryopreserved collection is currently held only in its Lima gene bank. However, the Svalbard facility only stores seeds, so CIP can back up only a portion of its collections there, primarily wild relatives of potato and sweet potato.ĬIP backs up its in-vitro potato collection with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), and its in-vitro sweet potato collection at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia.ĬIP has also backed up 3,277 potato accessions using cryopreservation, in which plant tissue is stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196☌. The CIP gene bank conserves more than 4,800 potato accessions-from rare Andean native potatoes to internationally grown varieties-and more than 5,500 sweet potato accessions. And because in vitro plantlets only survive a year or two in storage, technicians regularly need to take cuttings to produce new plants for storage and sharing. They can be multiplied by taking tissue cuttings and letting them grow into plants, from which subsequent cuttings can be taken-a process that starts in a lab and ends in farmers’ fields. As of 2017, it houses more than 21,700 samples and preserves most of its collections as in-vitro plantlets.īecause potatoes are “clonal” crops, for which farmers plant tubers or vine cuttings that are genetically identical to the mother plant, the CIP gene bank preserves them in-vitro, stored in test tubes in refrigerated chambers. However, Svalbard is just one of several places where the CIP gene bank backs up its collections.įounded in 1971, the CIP gene bank works to conserve and use roots and tuber genetic diversity for humanity. Yet some ancient varieties and their wild relatives have characteristics that breeders can use to develop the resilient varieties that farmers will need to cope with future climates, which makes gene banks increasingly important.ĬIP’s recent deposit of 236 seed samples of sweet potato and wild relatives of several crops were added to the 9,206 seed samples that CIP had previously sent to Svalbard. Gene banks safeguard a vast sampling of the world’s crop biodiversity, much of which is threatened by environmental destruction, extreme weather, and the global trend of farmers shifting from traditional varieties to modern ones. Whereas gene banks routinely share their accessions with other organizations, the seed vault is strictly for storage. NordGen – the organization that manages the seed vault in coordination with the Crop Trust and Norway’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food – uses a “black box” system, which means only depositors can touch or withdraw their seeds. Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.The Svalbard Global Seed Vault provides permanent backup storage, at -18☌, for seeds from the world’s gene banks.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more. ![]() This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find. ![]() Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives. ![]()
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