EU to open seed vault in Norway OSLO, Norway, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- European officials plan to head to Norway for the official opening of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, designed as a safety net for the world's crop diversity. The vault, which has been described as a "Noah's Ark" and a "Doomsday Vault," was dug into a mountainside in Norway's arctic Svalbard islands. It will hold 4.5 million different agricultural seed samples from around the world at -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Located more than 600 miles north of mainland Norway, it is the northernmost point in the world to be serviced by scheduled flights, the Global Crop Diversity Trust said. The group said the world's seed collections are vulnerable to civil strife, war, natural catastrophes, poor management, lack of adequate funding, and equipment failures. The vault is designed to hold crops such as wheat, barley and peas for up to 10,000 years.
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National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) - Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease.
Het Centrum voor Genetische Bronnen, Nederland (CGN) voert namens de Nederlandse overheid wettelijke onderzoekstaken (WOT) uit die verband houden met de genetische diversiteit en identiteit van soorten die van belang zijn voor de landbouw en bosbouw.
The Germplasm Resources Information Network's (GRIN) mission is to support four projects, the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), the National Animal Germplasm System (NAGP), the National Microbial Germplasm Program (NMGP), the National Invertebrate Germplasm Program (NIGRP).
World’s most important gene banks now under international plant genetic resources treaty New agreement ensures open access, benefits sharing for all 16 October 2006, Rome – The most important gene bank collections of the world’s key food and forage crops today came under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, ensuring that plant breeders, farmers and researchers will be able to access these plant genetic resources under standard conditions and share in the benefits arising from their use.
Climate change can slash animal gene pools (07 September 2004 - NewScientist.com - news service -Maggie McKee) Climate change can slash the genetic diversity of animals, affecting their long-term survival, suggests a study examining the evolution of two rodent species over 3000 years. Previous research has shown that climate change can influence animals' behaviour, such as when migratory birds fly south for the winter. And it can spur genetic adaptations in some insects in just a few generations. But now, the new mammalian study suggests animals may lose the ability to adapt quickly because climate change can cause unexpected shifts in a species' genetic diversity.
