The Microbiota Vault

Industrialization and urbanization are eroding human-associated microbial diversity, contributing to rising immune and metabolic disorders. The Microbiota Vault initiative, modeled after the Seed Vault, offers an equitable global framework to preserve this biodiversity by enabling local capacity, standardized protocols, and secure backup storage. Through the Global Microbiota Network (GloMiNe), pilot repositories, and international outreach, the project connects biodiversity-rich but resource-limited regions with global efforts. These activities lay the foundation for a distributed infrastructure to safeguard microbial heritage for science, health, and future generations