News 2021

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.