Global Genome Initiative: Biorepository

Once captured, genomic samples will be stored in the Smithsonian’s biorepository, a complex of sub-zero freezers which can hold up to 4 million cryo-preserved samples in perpetuity, located at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Md. Samples will represent diversity from the major branches on the tree of life and will be made available to researchers worldwide, furthering understanding and preservation of biodiversity in an era of global change. On July 8, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History announced that scientists with the museum’s Global Genome Initiative — a component of the Smithsonian Institute for Biodiversity Genomics — will capture the genomic diversity of half the world’s living plant genera in less than two years.

Photo credit: Donald E. Hurlbert / Smithsonian