A global effort to create a "microbial Noah's Ark" to preserve the world's diverse collection of healthy microbes before they disappear is now entering an active growth phase.
In a perspective article published in Nature Communications, a team of 25 scientists involved in the formation of the Microbiota Vault Initiative reported their successes and also laid out an ethical framework to ensure equitable collaboration and depositor sovereignty. This set of principles is designed to guide the initiative in its mission to safeguard microbial diversity for future generations.
The announcement, which coincides with World Microbiome Day on June 27, marks a significant step forward in a global effort. Scientists founding the initiative in 2018 were inspired by The Seed Vault within the Arctic Circle in Svalbard, Norway, where seeds collected worldwide are safeguarded to ensure the preservation of genetic diversity in the event of a global crisis.
"The microbiome is under big threat, a threat that is in many ways analogous to climate change," said Martin Blaser, a member of the board of directors for the initiative, and director of Rutgers's Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and a co-author of the perspective. "Human activities are depleting our microbiome, and there's lots of evidence of that."
