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Reading List | Biobanking Feasibility In Africa: Findings From A Pan-African Pilot Study
Reading List | Biobanking Feasibility In Africa: Findings From A Pan-African Pilot Study Biobanks offer a chance to investigate Africa’s rich genetic diversity and tackle the continent’s health and conservation challenges - but infrastructure issues ...
Biobanking News: Stephanie Lawrence Represents IMBM For International eDNA Training
Biobanking News: Stephanie Lawrence Represents IMBM For International eDNA Training In November 2025, Stephanie Lawrence was one of only six South Africans selected to attend the prestigious BioDATA Advanced Course at the Biological Station in ...
Job Opportunity: Director – Durban Natural Science Museum
Job Opportunity: Director - Durban Natural Science Museum The Durban Natural Science Museum (DNSM) is a small museum with a big mission: to acquire and disseminate knowledge about the Earth, its history, and life on ...
Biobanking News: SAIAB’s DIPLOMICS Partnership Expands Biobanking Potential
A Partnership for the Genomics Era: Expanding Biobank Potential Through DIPLOMICS Collaboration As genomic technologies evolve, the scientific community increasingly requires DNA of far higher quality, sometimes beyond what traditional preservation methods were originally designed ...
Biobanking News: New Curatorial Appointments at the Durban Natural Science Museum
Biobanking News: New Curatorial Appointments at the Durban Natural Science Museum The Durban Natural Science Museum (DNSM) is delighted to welcome two new curators to its Collections and Research team: Dr Dina Fagir, Curator of ...
Biobanking News: UFS Researchers Find South African Brown Locusts Harbor Drug-Resistant Yeast
Environmental Reservoir Found: South African Brown Locusts Harbor Drug-Resistant Yeast In a groundbreaking study that sheds light on the habitat of the deadly, drug-resistant yeast Candidozyma (Candida) auris, researchers from the University of the Free ...
BBSA Updates: Share Your Biodiversity Biobanking Stories
BBSA Updates: Share Your Biodiversity Biobanking Stories Happy new year, BBSA Community - and welcome back! We’re grateful for your continued commitment to biodiversity biobanking excellence, and to preserving, protecting and promoting biobanks to benefit ...
Seeding The Future: How the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank Is Saving SA’s Botanical Splendour
Seeding The Future: How the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank Is Saving SA’s Botanical Splendour There are moments when I am overwhelmed by the sheer, unrepeatable genius of our natural world, particularly in the succulent Karoo. ...
Biobanks Africa 2025: In Case You Missed It
Recordings Available: Biobanks Africa 2025 You might not have heard (where have you been?)...but this year saw the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa (BBSA) hosting the biggest biobanking ...
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 ...
One Health: How Biobanks Keep Our World Healthier – And More Interesting
One Health: How Biobanks Keep Our World Healthier - And More Interesting Biodiversity biobanks aren’t about people - not directly anyway. They store samples from plants, animals, microbes and more, after all...not from humans. But ...
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 ...
SANBI & NSCF Job Opportunities: Collections, Curation & Data Coordination
SANBI Job Opportunities: Collections, Curation & Data Coordination The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the Natural Science Collections Facility (NSCF), are pleased to announce three exciting career opportunities within the NSCF programme. South ...
Biobanks Africa 2025 | Same But Different – Biobanking As A Global Endeavour
Biobanks Africa 2025 | Same But Different - Biobanking As A Global Endeavour “As biobankers, we’re all confronted with similar challenges - and in some ways they may be even more severe in developing countries. ...
FINAL CALL For Abstracts & Funding: Joint Biobanking Conference 2025
Final Call For Abstracts & Funding: Joint Biobanking Conference 2025 This is a final call for abstracts for the GGBN / ISBER Joint Biobanking Conference 2025 – all those who are interested have until the ...
Funding Available For BBSA Community Members: Joint Biobanking Conference 2025
BBSA Community Registration & Funding | Joint Biobanking Conference 2025 As you know, the Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa (BBSA) is co-hosting the GGBN / ISBER Joint Biobanking Conference 2025 from 29 September to 3 October ...
In Memoriam: Dr Paul Bartels – Biodiversity Visionary, Pioneer and Advocate (22 Feb 1956–9 July 2025)
In Memoriam: Dr Paul Bartels - Biodiversity Visionary, Pioneer and Advocate (22 Feb 1956–9 July 2025) It is with profound sadness that we share news of the passing of Dr Paul Bartels, a visionary scientist, ...
Managing Microbes: IMBM And SANBI-UWC Collaborate On New Laboratory Information Management System
Managing Microbes: IMBM And SANBI Collaborate On New Laboratory Information Management System Data management is one of the core functions of a biobank – and it’s also key to the extent to which the biobank ...
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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….
















