News

15 April 2022 Steinhardt Museum of Natural History makes tissues discoverable through GGBN

We are happy to announce the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv has made 10,086 tissue samples discoverable through the GGBN data portal, including 669 genera, 76 of which are new to GGBN. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History houses the largest, most important collection of East Mediterranean vertebrates (marine and fresh water, desert and Mediterranean vegetation) in the world. It contains thousands of tissue samples of taxa: from geographic variants to species and higher taxa not represented anywhere else.

12 April 2022 GGBN Newsletter

The GGBN 2022 Newsletter has just been released and is available through the GGBN Document Library 2022 Newsletter

07 March 2022 GGBN-GGI Awards Call

We are happy to announce the 2022 GGBN-GGI Awards Program. The program provides funding for projects that support the discoverability of new genetic collections through the Global Genome Biodiversity Network's Data Portal. The proposal review committee will consider requests for up to 20,000 USD with clearly articulated budget justifications. Priority consideration will be given to proposals that represent institutions and collections 1) from the global south, 2) from countries with a low or middle-income (based on the latest WESP Economy by per capita GNI), and 3) that strategically address high-level taxonomic gaps in the GGBN Data Portal. It is mandatory that all data from funded projects are made available online on the GGBN Portal before 1 September 2024. The submission deadline for 2022 proposals is Monday May 23, 2022.

For more information, please visit our information page.

07 February 2022 Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is seeking an independent contractor

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is seeking an independent contractor to provide administrative and project management support to the Global Genome Biodiversity Network General Secretariat Office for all GGBN activities. The contract period is for 12 months with options to extend.

Qualified individuals are invited to review the attached Request for Quotes (RFQ) and Statement of Work (SOW) for specifics. Details on what to include in the quote package and how to submit it are available in the RFQ. Interested parties should contact Katie Barker (barkerk@si.edu) for a copy of the RFQ and SOW.

Responses are due Monday, February 28th, 8am EST. Applicants should register as a federal contractor in the System for Award Management (SAM) concurrently to responding to the RFQ.

Please forward this announcement to any qualified candidates who might be interested. Feel free to contact me if there are any questions.

31 January 2022 United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Antarctic Biorepository Workshop (Feb 2-4)

The upcoming virtual United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Antarctic Biorepository Workshop (Feb 2-4) will include a variety of biologists and curators, including those from several GGBN member institutions, to discuss the development of a biorepository for Antarctic biological specimens! This 3-day workshop, led by co-chairs Dr. Elizabeth Crockett and co-chair Dr. Kristen O'Brian (Institute of Arctic Biology & Department of Biology and Wildlife University of Alaska, Fairbanks), aims to assess the current state of Antarctic collections, evaluate strategies for maximizing specimen visibility/accessibility, and address the need and scope for a biorepository of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic biological specimens. The agenda & more info can be found on the workshop website.

19 January 2022 PNAS Special Feature on Earth Biogenome Project Published

The PNAS special feature on the Earth Biogenome Project is now online, see: https://www.pnas.org/cc/the-earth-biogenome-project. GGBN is an EBP partner, co-authoring several publications as part of this special feature.

19 October 2021 Slides available for MOBILISE workshop on a data standard for loans and permits

100 people from more than 20 countries participated in the MOBILISE workshop on a data standard for loans and permits on 29th/30th September 2021! Attendees represented all major disciplines housed in a Natural History Museum (biology, anthropology, mineralogy, palaeontology) as well as technical infrastructures. On the first day presentations from all disciplines provided an overview about the current status of managing permits and loans. On the second day four breakout sessions worked on the topic in detail. We are confident that we made good progress in understanding and addressing the challenges of meeting legal and ethical requirements connected to our information management. Presentations have been made available through the GGBN Document Library. Links to slides have been added to the Agenda doc and can be accessed without an account: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_zpvMb8za9jeG4GbHGsrAKRSLGYqXGazWLh_oggwBOE/edit#heading=h.n8be552nw75y A workshop report will be published in the RIO journal and will be available in early 2022. As a next step a smaller group will write a charter for a new Task Group under TDWG to develop the new data standard. More information will follow as soon as the new Task Group has been approved by TDWG.

05 October 2021 The Huntington Joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that The Huntington has joined GGBN. The biobank collection includes 1651 DNA and tissue samples represent 172 plant species. Tissue samples are stored in silica Gel at room temperature or -80 deg C and DNA is stored in TE buffer at -80 degrees C.

05 October 2021 Royal Botanic Garden Jordan Joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Royal Botanic Garden Jordan has joined GGBN. The collection includes 2500 DNA samples and 1219 seed samples representing 430 species of plants. Samples are stored in silica, and a cold room at 1-4C.

16 August 2021 MOBILISE Workshop on a Data Standard for Loans and Permits: 29/30 September

We are happy to announce this year’s MOBILISE workshop on a data standard for loans and permits.

It will take place virtually on 29./30. September 2021, 3-6pm UTC (5-8pm CEST) on both days.

Background: Making legal information that is associated with specimens or data traceable in digital resources is an important goal of many initiatives. It facilitates the compliance with the Nagoya protocol in collections and collection infrastructures. In close collaboration with SYNTHESYS+ NA3 (work package on molecular standards and processes) we discussed that the goal is best addressed by making legal information part of the data structure and by developing a data standard for loans and permits.

Goals of the workshop: In the workshop we would like to find out what a data standard for loans and permits should consider. A start has been made for GGBN and the DNA and tissue collections, and the goal is to extend the standard to other types of natural science collections. We will therefore invite representatives of different disciplines and infrastructures within the natural sciences.

The workshop will be divided into a more general information session and into several parallel working sessions. More information will follow. Please contact Eva Haeffner via e.haeffner@bgbm.org until August, 31st 2021 if you or someone from your network are interested in participating.

08 August 2021 GGBN-GGI Award Recipients

We are happy to announce the results of the GGBN-GGI 2021 Awards Program. A total of six highly competitive proposals representing institutions across five countries were received and ranked by a peer review committee representative of GGBN membership. The panel ranked the proposals on the following metrics: complementarity to existing collections on GGBN; the size, scope, and quality of the collection; the genomic novelty of the collection; adherence to GGBN best practices; the efficiency or cost-effectiveness of the proposal; contribution to the GGBN community; and the timeline for completion. Priority consideration was given to proposals that represent institutions and collections 1) from the global south, 2) from countries with a low or middle-income (based on the latest WESP Economy by per capita GNI), and 3) that strategically address high-level taxonomic gaps in the GGBN Data Portal. The total funding requested was over 118,000 USD, just over 56,000 USD was awarded. Awardees will be contributing over 9,000 new genetic samples to the GGBN data portal by September 2023.

GGBN-GGI 2021 Awardees include:

• Instituto de investigación de recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt/Colombia
• National Museum, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil
• Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, DNA Bank (ADNUAA)/Mexico
• Universidad Nacional de Colombia/Colombia

The titles and abstracts of these proposals can be found on the GGBN awards program page, along with general award program information.

Congratulations everyone!

02 August 2021 GGBN Conference in China Postponed until 2025

Due to the continued disruptions to travel associated with Covid-19, GGBN will be postponing its conference in China, hosted by the China National GeneBank, until 2025. As a result, our next conference will be in Mexico, hosted by the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes in 2023.

6 July 2021 Atlanta Botanical Garden joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that Atlanta Botanical Garden has joined GGBN from the United States. ABG's collection includes DNA and tissue samples from over 750 plant species.

4 June 2021 GGBN Governance Documents Available in Spanish

We are delighted to announce the Spanish translation of GGBN's Memorandum of Understanding and Terms of Reference. These translated governance documents are designed to be helpful tools for both prospective and existing Spanish-speaking GGBN Members. These resources can be found in the Membership Documents section of GGBN's Membership page.

28 May 2021 Inala Jurassic Garden joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that Inala Jurassic Garden has joined GGBN from Tasmania, Australia. IJG's collection includes DNA and tissue samples from over 100 species.

28 May 2021 Core Facility Botanical Garden, University of Vienna joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Core Facility Botanical Garden, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna has joined GGBN. UNIVIE's collection represents 12,500 living plant species and 1.5 million herbarium vouchers.

26 May 2021 GGBN Virtual Symposium "Operating a Biobank During a Pandemic"

The Global Genome Biodiversity Network is pleased to announce a short virtual symposium, to be held on June 9th starting at 7am US Pacific, 10am US Eastern and 4pm Central European Summer Time. The theme of the meeting is "Operating a Biobank During a Pandemic: Facing Challenges During a Period of Heightened Relevance." The meeting is intended for the GGBN community to discuss the challenges, adaptations, and opportunities related to operating a biobank during a pandemic. For the full program with abstracts please visit the symposium page.

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsde6hqjkuEtRKVvJUVim9VU2J7Ubu8oC-

After your registration has been approved, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions to enable you to join the Zoom meeting.

4 May 2021 Tooro Botanical Gardens joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Tooro Botanical Gardens has joined GGBN as the first GGBN Member from Uganda. TBG's collection includes over 450 DNA, tissue, and environmental samples of plants, representing 50 species.

13 April 2021 GGBN Annual Newsletter now available

GGBN's annual newsletter is now available here: https://wiki.ggbn.org/ggbn/Newsletters

29 March 2021 Universidad Nacional de Colombia joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Universidad Nacional de Colombia / National University of Colombia has joined GGBN. UNAL's collection includes over 2000 tissue and DNA samples of microorganisms and vertebrates, representing 290 species.

29 March 2021 Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute has joined GGBN as our first member from India. JNTBGRI plans to make discoverable 100 plant tissue samples.

22 March 2021 GGBN-GGI Awards Call for Proposals

We are happy to announce the 2021 GGBN-GGI Awards Program. The program provides funding for projects that support the discoverability of new genetic collections through the Global Genome Biodiversity Network's Data Portal. The proposal review committee will consider requests for up to 20,000 USD with clearly articulated budget justifications. This year priority consideration will be given to proposals that represent institutions and collections 1) from the global south, 2) from countries with a low or middle-income (based on the latest WESP Economy by per capita GNI), and 3) that strategically address high-level taxonomic gaps in the GGBN Data Portal. It is mandatory that all data from funded projects are made available online on the GGBN Portal before 1 September 2023. The submission deadline for 2021 proposals is April 30, 2021.

29 January 2021 Northwestern University Ecological Park & Botanic Gardens joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Northwestern University Ecological Park & Botanic Gardens has joined GGBN as our first member from the Philippines. NUEBG's collection includes over 2000 tissue samples representing over 2300 plant species.

6 January 2021 Mientrung Institute for Scientific Research joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Mientrung Institute for Scientific Research (MISR), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) has joined GGBN as our latest member from Viet Nam. MISR's collections include DNA samples of plants and microorganisms.

10 December 2020 GGBN Conference postponed until March 2022

Due to the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic in China and globally, the GGBN Executive Committee has agreed with the China National GeneBank to postpone the GGBN 2020 Conference in Shenzhen, China until March 21-25, 2022.

In early 2021 GGBN will have a series of small focused online working group meetings with GGBN members and partners. We look forward to meeting in person in Shenzhen in March of 2022. The GGBN Conference originally planned for 2022 will now take place in early November 2023 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, hosted by Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes.

3 December 2020 Hungarian Natural History Museum makes collections discoverable

We are happy to announce the Hungarian Natural History Museum has made 11,400 samples discoverable to GGBN’s Data Portal. These samples add ca. 40 new fungi, animal and plant families and 250 new genera of primarily endemic taxa from the Pannonian Biogeographical Region, as well as rare taxa collected in the Balkan Peninsula, Anatolia, South-East Asia, Africa and Central-America. Congratulations to the team at Hungarian Natural History Museum!

20 November 2020 Fiocruz makes protozoa collections discoverable

We are happy to announce that Fiocruz has made their protozoa collection discoverable adding 12 genera and 33 species to GGBN's online collections.

30 October 2020 GGBN Data Portal User Survey: Please participate by December 1

GGBN is redesigning and upgrading the search functionality and display of the GGBN Data Portal, which was designed to serve as a single-stop search platform for researchers to locate genomic samples from biodiversity biobanks around the world.

We are asking for input from those that conduct non-human molecular research, to ensure that the redesign meets your needs. Please fill out and share this survey by December 1.

6 October 2020 INVEMAR joins GGBN

We are happy to announce that the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras Jose Benito Vives de Andreis INVEMAR has joined GGBN as our latest member from Colombia. INVEMAR's collections include tissue samples of vertebrates and marine invertebrates.

6 October 2020 TDWG 2020 Genomic Biodiversity Interest Group Session now available

The TDWG 2020 session on environmental samples and associated standards is now available on YouTube. This working group session took place during the joint TDWG and Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) Biodiversity Genomics Working Group (aka GBWG). See TDWG 2020: Genomic Biodiversity Interest Group - Working Session.

21 July 2020 BioCASe Provider Software "Hands On" Webinar now available

The second DarwinCore Hour webinar on BioCASe provider software "Using BioCASe to provide data to GBIF and GGBN - hands on" is now available, along with the first BioCASe webinar "Using BioCASe to provide data to GBIF and GGBN - overview". See GGBN's use cases and tutorials on data management and publishing.

News Archive

Older news can be found in the GGBN News Archive.