The history of seed banking and the hazards of backup

Abstract

Seeds and other plant materials in seed and gene bank collections are rarely considered adequately conserved today unless genetically identical duplicate samples have been created and safely stored elsewhere. This paper explores the history of seed banking to understand how, why and with what consequences copying collections came to occupy this central place. It highlights a shift in the guiding metaphor for long-term preservation of seed collections, from banking to backup. To understand the causes and consequences of this shift in metaphor, the paper traces the intertwined histories of the central long-term seed storage facility of the United States (opened in 1958) and the international seed conservation system into which that facility was integrated in the 1970s. This account reveals how changing conceptions of security, linked to changing economic, political and technological circumstances, transformed both the guiding metaphors and the practices of seed conservation in these institutions. Early instantiations of long-term cold storage facilities vested security in robust infrastructures and the capacities of professional staff; between the 1960s and 1990s, this configuration gave way to one in which security was situated in copies rather than capacities. This observation ultimately raises questions about the security promised and achieved through present-day infrastructures for crop genetic resources conservation.

Unrestricted Versus Regulated Open Data Governance: A Bibliometric Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleotide Sequence Databases

“…At the heart of our inquiry lies the research question of how data infrastructures function as entities that mediate the interplay between data and research practices, thereby affecting the processes and outcomes of data exchange. To answer this, our methodology entails a synthesis of quantitative methods such as data collection, frequentist statistics and network analysis, and is informed by critical data studies debates on the governance and inclusivity of data infrastructures (Beaulieu et al 2013;Kitchin 2014;Kitchin & McArdle 2016;Leonelli 2016B;Borgman 2017;Fecher 2018;Borgman and Bourne 2022;Wilson et al 2022;Curry 2022).…”

Genebanking plant genetic resources in the postgenomic era

“…In a broader context of the biodiversity crisis, the regime complex governing genetic resources, in the first place the FAO Seed Treaty (ITPGRFA 2004), calls for improvement of the efficiency of gene banking (Curry 2022). Considering digitisation as part of the default gene banking process also underlies preexisting political views and values for the future of food systems (Alpsancar 2016;Fenzi and Bonneuil 2016;Peres 2016).…”

“…This is also a way to improve the costefficiency and effectiveness of collections (McCouch et al 2012). For example, the Second Report on the State of the World's PGRFA estimates that about a third of all PGRFA accessions are duplicates (FAO 2010;Curry 2022). In addition, the digitisation 5 of collections would be an appropriate response to ongoing calls for improvement in the standardisation of genebanks' sampling, storing and regeneration procedures (FAO 2014).…”

“…In addition, the digitisation 5 of collections would be an appropriate response to ongoing calls for improvement in the standardisation of genebanks' sampling, storing and regeneration procedures (FAO 2014). Interestingly, the role of duplication in ex situ collections has been recently questioned (Curry 2022). Digitizing genebanks can be considered as some sort of additional layer of duplication and raises similar questions towards the actual consequences on crop genetic resources conservation.…”

The eternal return: Imagining security futures at the Doomsday Vault

“…This article contributes to growing academic interest in security stockpiles, seedbanks and other forms of cryopreservation that has emerged across disciplines such as critical humanities, heritage studies, and science and technology studies (STS) (Alpsancar, 2016;Breithoff and Harrison, 2020;Chacko, 2019;Curry, 2022;Fenzi and Bonneuil, 2016;Hartigan Jr., 2017;Lewis-Jones, 2019;Peres, 2016Peres, , 2019Radin and Kowal, 2017;Van Dooren, 2009). It also reflects an accelerating focus on climate imaginaries and how visions of future worlds are entangled with political, cultural, scientific and technological developments (Benner et al, 2019;Harper and Specht, 2022;Milkoreit, 2017;Luke, 2015).…”