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

CryoArks生物库是一项亟需的倡议，旨在将英国博物馆、动物园、研究机构和大学中发现的许多不同且互不相连的动物材料集合在一起。目前，如果由BBSRC资助的科学家希望找到特定动物物种、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位置，除了几个博物馆藏品，其中一些不在英国。2014年，联合国执行了《遗传资源获取和惠益分享名古屋议定书》。名古屋议定书旨在防止发展中国家在从其边界内的物种收集的遗传物质被用于开发新的抗癌药物时蒙受损失。不幸的是，它也阻止了许多遗传物质用于非商业性研究的流动，例如许多BBSRC科学家正在进行的研究。作为名古屋协议的结果，英国需要建立自己的动物物种基因库。这些银行隐藏了一个遗传物质的宝库，可以告诉我们我们自己的历史，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理解我们自己生物学的关键。因此，我们需要改善英国研究界获得动物生物标本的机会，而做到这一点的最好方法是组织、集中和适当地提供资源。两个组织，冰冻方舟项目和欧洲动物园和水族馆协会(EAZA)，正在积极寻求扩大他们的生物库，分别专注于濒危物种和动物园/水族馆动物。CryoArks项目将与伦敦自然历史博物馆和苏格兰国家博物馆这三所大学联合起来，提供基础设施和专业知识，将动物生物库的获取、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，管理大型生物库的博物馆和英国大学的科学家也是如此。这是因为管理这些设施既昂贵又耗时，而且资源匮乏。CryoArks生物库计划将解决这一问题，并有可能通过获得地球上一些最重要的遗传物质来提升由BBSRC资助的研究。还需要向公众解释生物库的想法，他们可能会将其视为灭绝物种复活的前兆，并可能在克隆这些物种和其他物种方面存在严重的伦理问题。为了帮助消除关于生物库的任何神话，我们将通过冰冻方舟和爱丁堡动物园建立和运行一系列教育倡议，包括视频和基于网络的教育活动。我们希望揭开冰冻藏品的神秘面纱，让公众意识到它们代表着多么宝贵的资源。

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.