BBR-CryoArks: Enhancing frozen collections for non-model and endangered animal taxa

CryoArks生物银行是一项急需的倡议，它汇集了英国博物馆、动物园、研究机构和大学中发现的许多不同的、互不相关的动物材料。目前，如果一个由BBSRC资助的科学家希望找到一个特定动物物种、亚种、品种或种群的样本进行DNA测序，他们没有地方可以搜索，除了一些博物馆的收藏，其中一些不在英国。2014年，联合国实施了《遗传资源获取和惠益分享名古屋议定书》。《名古屋议定书》的目的是防止发展中国家在从其境内物种收集的遗传物质被用于开发诸如新的抗癌药物时蒙受损失。不幸的是，它也阻止了许多非商业研究的遗传物质的移动，比如许多BBSRC科学家所进行的研究。根据《名古屋议定书》，英国需要建立自己的动物物种基因库。这些基因库隐藏着一个遗传物质的宝库，它可以告诉我们人类的历史，并告诉我们为什么某些物种具有不寻常的特征——例如，为什么裸鼹鼠很少得癌症？了解物种生物学的遗传基础是了解我们自身生物学的关键。因此，我们需要改善英国研究界获取动物生物标本的途径，而做到这一点的最佳方法是组织、集中和适当地提供资源。冷冻方舟项目和欧洲动物园和水族馆协会（EAZA）这两个组织正积极寻求扩大他们的生物库，分别关注濒危物种和动物园/水族馆动物。CryoArks项目将把这些组织与三所大学、伦敦自然历史博物馆和苏格兰国家博物馆联合起来，提供基础设施和专业知识，将动物生物库的访问、组织和物种覆盖提升到一个新的水平。英国所有的主要动物园都支持这一发展，英国大学里管理大型生物银行的博物馆和科学家也是如此。这是因为管理这些设施成本高昂、耗时且资源匮乏。CryoArks生物银行计划将解决这个问题，并有可能通过访问地球上一些最重要的遗传物质来提升bbsrc资助的研究。生物银行的想法也需要向公众解释，他们可能会将其视为复活灭绝物种的先驱，克隆这些物种和其他物种可能会产生严重的伦理问题。为了消除人们对生物银行的误解，我们将通过冷冻方舟和爱丁堡动物园建立并开展一系列教育活动，包括视频和网络教育活动。我们希望揭开冷冻藏品的神秘面纱，让公众意识到它们所代表的宝贵资源。

The CryoArks biobank is a much-needed initiative to bring together many diverse and disconnected collections of animal material found in museums, zoos, research institutes and universities in the UK. Currently, if a scientist funded by the BBSRC wishes to find a sample of a particular animal species, subspecies, breed or population for DNA sequencing, they have no place where they can search for the location except for a few museum collections, some of which are not located in the UK. In 2014, the Nagoya Protocol for access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources was implemented by the United Nations. The Nagoya protocol was designed to stop developing countries losing out when genetic material collected from species within their border was used to develop, for example, new anti-cancer drugs. Unfortunately, it has also stopped much of the movement of genetic materials for non-commercial research, such as is carried out by many BBSRC scientists. As a result of the Nagoya Protocol, the UK needs to develop its own genetic banks for animal species. These banks hide a treasure trove of genetic material that can tell us about our own history and tell us why certain species have unusual characteristics - for example why does the naked mole-rat rarely get cancer? Understanding the genetic basis of species biology is key to understanding our own biology. So, we need to improve access to animal biological specimens to the UK research community and the best way to do that is to organise, centralise and properly resource it. Two organisations, the Frozen Ark Project and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), are actively seeking to expand their biobanks that focus on endangered species and zoo/aquarium animals, respectively. The CryoArks project would join these organisations with three universities, the Natural History Museum in London and the National Museums Scotland to provide the infrastructure and expertise to take animal biobanks to a new level of access, organisation and species coverage. All the UK's main zoos are in favour of this development, as are museums and scientists within UK universities who manage large biobanks. This is because managing these facilities is costly, time-consuming and poorly resourced. The CryoArks biobank initiative would solve this problem and has the potential to elevate BBSRC-funded research by access to some of the most important genetic material available on the planet. The idea of biobanking also needs to be explained to the public, who might view it as a precursor to resurrecting extinct species and may have severe ethical problems with cloning of these and other species. To help dispel any myths around biobanking, we will establish and run, through the Frozen Ark and Edinburgh Zoo, a series of educational initiatives, including videos and web-based education activities. We hope to demystify frozen collections and allow the public to realise what an invaluable resource they represent.