More than 30,000 species of animals are currently in danger of extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a number that increases year after year. In this context of growing threats to biodiversity, the preservation of animal materials for future generations is a priority.
Faced with this situation, the Barcelona Zoo Foundation (FBZ) promotes and coordinates the BioBanc project for conservation, a comprehensive project to preserve biomaterial and viable cells in order to facilitate the study of animals in a way non-invasive and prioritizing research that contributes to the conservation of species.
The BioBank has therefore been created to address the existing need to provide a sustainable resource of samples for genetic and genomic research in animal species, thereby making available to researchers tissue, molecular and genomic samples collected without affecting welfare of animals. In this way, the knowledge we have about animal species is improved and, above all, action is taken against the loss of biodiversity.
The aim is to efficiently homogenize the tissue and cell samples of animal species that have been collected so far - especially those that are in danger of extinction - from the Barcelona Zoo and also from other institutions. This will facilitate responsible and sustainable use of samples for a wide range of applications that will improve fundamental research and the conservation of endangered species.
The initiative was born with a clear international vocation and the ambition to become a reference at European level, especially in the context of the south of the continent. It already has the involvement of institutions such as the Iberian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AIZA) and must play an important role in global initiatives such as the World Biobank for Conservation.
On the other hand, it is a project fully aligned with the objectives of the Barcelona Zoo's New Model, which has education, research and conservation as its main strategic axes.
The BioBank of the FBZ: two headquarters
The BioBank of the FBZ is organized around two headquarters, non-exclusively:
• A bank of viable tissues and gametes at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
• The CryoZoo, a bank of cell lines, at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)
Tissue and gamete bank
Already in 2003, the conservation of dead tissues of animals of interest to the Zoo for use in research studies began with the UAB. The BioBanc captures the spirit of that initiative and wants to regularize and homogenize its processes, and work so that tissue donations do not come solely from the Barcelona Zoo but from many more centres.
The activities of the tissue bank are:
• reserve of biological material
• collection of germplasm
• collection of hair, feather, scales and faeces
The CryoZoo
Since 2018, FBZ has been working on the CryoZoo together with Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). The CryoZoo is part of an innovative work area around cell lines.
The characteristic feature that differentiates the CryoZoo from other similar initiatives is that, in addition to storing cell lines, karyotyping is done for each sample, that is, for each cell line generated that corresponds to a specimen in specific (with the complete genome). Therefore, it is not only a valuable storehouse of cells, but also a storehouse of molecular information that will avoid having to repeatedly interact with animals in captivity.
In addition, from these first cells, the CryoZoo could create iPS (induced pluripotent) stem cells, the last resort for animals in danger of extinction. As for the genetic data, this will allow comparative studies to be carried out between species, fight against illegal animal trafficking and potentially end up restoring the genetic diversity lost in recent decades.