Biodiversity Biobanks
MEET THE BIO BANKS
MEET THE BIOBANKS
The Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa serves as a coordinating and supporting mechanism across many of South Africa’s most important biodiversity biobanks. BBSA biobanks store, study and share hundreds of thousands of samples of biological material from plants, animals, bacteria and fungi, from field to farm to ocean – and beyond. Get to know some of the BBSA biobanks below.
The National Plant Genetic Resources Centre: Supporting Small Farmers & South Africa’s Food Security
The National Plant Genetic Resources Centre: Supporting Small Farmers & South Africa's Food Security Human civilization as we know it is dependent on agriculture. Most of the food calories we consume come, directly or indirectly, ...
Biobanking Around The World: An International Endeavour
Biobanking Around The World: An International Endeavour Biodiversity biobanking is crucial for conservation—it is the conservation intervention that presents the lowest risk today for the highest potential impact in the future. By storing animal, plant ...
Agricultural Research Council Biobanks: Science To Feed A Nation
Agricultural Research Council: Biobanks To Feed A Nation The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) is a premier science institution that conducts research with partners, develops human capital and fosters innovation to support and develop the agricultural ...
Meet the Biobank: The Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics
Meet the Biobank: The Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics - Dynamite Comes In Small Packages Fun fact: There are more microbes in a few grams of soil than there are people on the entire ...
UFS Yeast Culture Collection: Featuring Fantastic Yeast
UFS Yeast Culture Collection: Featuring Fantastic Yeast Contrary to what many of us may think, yeasts aren’t just found in breads and beers. These unicellular organisms are hundreds of millions of years old, found all ...
ARC National Small Grain Collection – Seeding A Secure Future
ARC National Small Grain Collection - Seeding A Secure Future Grains matter. They’re a food staple in almost every culture on Earth, responsible for almost half the calories we consume (directly and indirectly) for thousands ...
SANBI Biobank – Saving Species, Building Biodiversity
SANBI Wildlife Biobank – Saving Species, Building Biodiversity The wildlife biobank at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has been dedicated to the long-term collection, curation and archiving of biodiversity samples for more than ...
SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank – A Time Capsule Of Plants Past
SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank – A Time Capsule Of Plants Past Plant species worldwide are under threat of becoming extinct as a result of habitat loss, invasive alien plants, over-collection and more - and South ...
Meet The Biobank: Grootfontein Biobank – Breeding Better Sheep (And Goats)
Meet The Biobank: Grootfontein Biobank – Breeding Better Sheep (And Goats) Most biobanks are staffed entirely by humans (for obvious reasons). But while the human team at Grootfontein Biobank for Sheep and Goats, does most ...
Meet The Biobank: ARC National Collection of Fungi – Much More Than Mushrooms
Meet The Biobank: ARC National Collection of Fungi - More Than Mushrooms The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has several biobanks that form part of the core biobank system of the Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa (BBSA), ...
SANBI Indigenous Plant DNA Biobank: Saving Our Genetic Heritage
Meet The Biobank: SANBI Indigenous Plant DNA Biobank: Saving Our Genetic Heritage South Africa is a known biodiversity hotspot, boasting over 20 000 indigenous plants of all shapes and sizes and high levels of endemism. ...
Meet The Biobanks: SAIAB – The Place Of Fishes (And More)
Meet The Biobanks: SAIAB - The Place Of Fishes (And More) More than seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. It’s where life began - and even now, where most of life’s ...
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What are biodiversity biobanks?
Biodiversity biobanks are repositories of biologically relevant resources, including reproductive tissues such as seeds, eggs and sperm, other tissues including blood, DNA extracts, microbial cultures (active and dormant), and environmental samples containing biological communities….
