The Microbiota Vault

Launching the IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group as a global safeguard for microbial biodiversity - Nature Microbiology Nature Microbiology - Launching the IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group as a global safeguard for microbial biodiversity

A new Species Survival Commission (SSC) has been established by the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN). Microbiota Vault collaborators are among the founding members: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

We had great talks at this year's Global Microbiome Network symposium. Many thanks to the speakers and our partners @microbiomevif.bsky.social!

You can find the talks on our Youtube channel:

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

GloMiNe | 9 & 10/11 September 2025 jointly organized by The Microbiota Vault and MVIF

The next Global Microbiome Network symposium (GloMiNe 2025), dedicated to the preservation of microbial diversity, will be held in partnership with MVIF in September.
You can register here: www.microbiome-vif.org/en-US/-/futu...

GloMiNe | 9 & 10/11 September 2025 jointly organized by The Microbiota Vault and MVIF

The next Global Microbiome Network symposium - GloMiNe 2025 - about the preservation of microbial diversity will be in partnership with MVIF and will take place in September.
You can register here: www.microbiome-vif.org/en-US/-/futu...

GloMiNe | 9 & 10/11 September 2025 jointly organized by The Microbiota Vault and MVIF

The next Global Microbiome Network symposium - GloMiNe 2025 - about the preservation of microbial diversity will be in partnership with MVIF and will take place in September.
You can register here: www.microbiome-vif.org/en-US/-/futu...

Partnership with the DSI Scientific Network | The Microbiota Vault We are partnering with the DSI Scientific Network for capacity strengthening in the field of Digital Sequence Information (DSI). There are important developments with regard to the future of the ABS/N...

We're partnering with the DSI Scientific Network to strengthen capacity around Digital Sequence Information (DSI).
We kicked off with a great seminar featuring a Microbiota Vault intro by Dominik Steiger and a DSI update by Pablo Orozco.
www.microbiotavault.org/partnership-...

The Microbiota Vault educates scientists and promotes the creation of Local Collections for preservation and research. These local collections can request that the Microbiota Vault preserve a safe backup of their specimens, maintaining all rights over their deposits; they have the option to request sequencing for open access under the license of their choice, and the MV will publish on its webpage a database of the deposited specimens, including metadata, links to sequences, and contact information about depositors. Those in the global community interested in doing research can then contact the depositor from the Local Working Collection. For the use of data derived from the Microbiota Vault, explicit acknowledgments to the specific Local Working Collection and to the Microbiota Vault will be required.

Our beautiful Microbiota Vault framework figure, designed together with Joel Colombo and used in our Nature Communications perspective paper (doi.org/10.1038/s414...), made it Infographic of the week in the Nature Briefing Microbiology newsletter (www.nature.com/briefing/mic...)!

The Microbiota Vault Initiative: Safeguarding Earth's microbial heritage for future generations

#Microbiomes4Life @gilbertjacka.bsky.social

https://bit.ly/3GpfSu5

Together, we can safeguard Earth's invisible but vital microbial heritage.

#WorldMicrobiomeDay #MicrobiotaVault #MicrobialDiversity #GlobalHealth #Biobanking #NatureCommunications

Now we will use this momentum to scale the initiative globally. To fully develop the Microbiota Vault as a guardian of microbial diversity for humanity's long-term health, we are seeking additional visionary supporters to join our mission.

The Launch Phase has demonstrated that equitable international biobanking is not just possible - it is essential for preserving microbial diversity for future generations.

We also celebrate our founding supporters who believed in this mission from the beginning: Seerave Foundation, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Stiftung Fourfold, Oak Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, New England Biolabs, Pacific Star Foundation, Bengt E Gustafsson Fund, and Amy P. Goldman Foundation.

Nicholas Bokulich and Anton Lavrinienko at ETH Zurich, for their scientific excellence in validation, storage, sequencing, data management and data annotation.

Pascale Vonaesch and Youzheng Teo at University of Lausanne, Adrian Egli, Diana Albertos Torres, Yuen Yi Li and Vanni Benvenga at University of Zurich,

Special thanks to our work package partners who made this vision reality:

We extend our deepest gratitude to our Local Collections partners across Brazil, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Laos, Thailand, and Switzerland who trusted us with their precious specimens while maintaining full sovereignty over their deposits.

The successful Launch Phase of the Microbiota Vault has proven the feasibility of its equitable framework, with 1'400+ samples from Local Collections across multiple continents safely stored. This achievement represents a truly global collaborative effort.

The microbiota vault initiative: safeguarding Earth’s microbial heritage for future generations - Nature Communications Nature Communications - The microbiota vault initiative: safeguarding Earth’s microbial heritage for future generations

Today is World Microbiome Day and today the Microbiota Vault, together with all participating Local Collections, publishes the perspective paper "The Microbiota Vault Initiative: Safeguarding Earth's microbial heritage for future generations" in Nature Communications.

Link: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity.

There is visible and invisible biodiversity. Both are at risk.

The Microbiota Vault acts as a global guardian of microbial diversity.

www.microbiotavault.org

The Microbiota Vault initiative is being featured at the prestigious Triennale in Milano in the thought-provoking expedition "We The Bacteria", as part of the 24th International Exhibition "Inequalities".

The next Global Microbiome Network symposium - GloMiNe 2025 - about the preservation of microbial diversity will be in partnership with MVIF and will take place in September.
Please register here: cassyni.com/s/mvif-glomi...

The Microbiota Vault and Messer Schweiz AG sign a partnership to advance the field of cryogenic biospecimen preservation.

The Microbiota Vault at the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 #COP16 in Cali.

Many thanks to Joe Tohme and alliancebioversityciat.org!

www.microbiotavault.org

4th GloMiNe - Symposium for Chile - YouTube Human societies are facing an ecological crisis of global proportions. Accumulation of Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is shifting the planets radiative b...

4th Globale Microbiome Network - GloMiNe - Symposium for Chile
youtube.com/playlist?lis...

3rd GloMiNe - Symposium for Asia - YouTube Microbial diversity, crucial for human health, is globally threatened by urbanization at an unprecedented pace. Microbial biodiversity hotspots are mostly lo...

3rd Global Microbiome Network - GloMiNe- Symposium for Asia
youtube.com/playlist?lis...

2nd GloMiNe - Symposium for Africa - YouTube 2nd Global Microbiome Network – GloMiNe – Symposium for Africa Microbial diversity, crucial for human health, is globally threatened by urbanization at an un...

2nd Global Microbiome Network - GloMiNe- Symposium for Africa
youtube.com/playlist?lis...

First Global Microbiome Network - GloMiNe - Symposium for Latin America
youtube.com/playlist?lis...