Where Worlds Align: Insights from the Joint GGBN–ISBER Conference on Biodiversity and Biobanking, Cape Town, October 2025
The 2025 Joint GGBN–ISBER Conference in Cape Town united biodiversity, environmental, and biomedical biobanking communities from 38 countries. The event highlighted biobanks as interdisciplinary and collaborative infrastructures for addressing global challenges—pandemics, biodiversity loss, and food security, among others. Recurring themes throughout the conference were as follows: (1) Harmonization and Quality—adoption of best practices and standards where possible to ensure global interoperability and sample integrity; (2) Equitable Governance—crafting flexible, transparent frameworks for sample and data sharing that uphold sovereignty and benefit local communities; (3) Technological and Data Integration—using artificial intelligence, omics technologies, and standardized metadata to transform physical specimens into scalable digital resources; and (4) Resilient Infrastructure—securing long-term investment in regional biobanking networks and targeted training to build enduring capacity, embedding sustainability by design and safeguarding local knowledge.
Authors
- Anurag Dhyani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0852-6237)
- Kim Labuschagne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2784-4767)
- Jonas J. Astrin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1961-1162)
- Gregory Grossman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1511-7028)
- Anita L. Burger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9907-8179)
- Rebecca S. Pugh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3124-1045)
- Engela H. Conradie
- Heather Avrili
- Belén Escobari Vargas
- Katharine Barker
- Puseletso Johnston
Institutions
- Smithsonian Institution (US)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (US)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- National Museum of Natural History (US)
- North-West University (ZA)
- Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (IN)
- Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (DE)
- South African National Biodiversity Institute (ZA)
- Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (DE)
- Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (ZA)
- Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (DE)
- Precision Ocular Network (US)
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- University of the Western Cape (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Biopreservation and Biobanking
- Published
- 2026-09-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/19475535261488949
- Primary Topic
- Ethics in Clinical Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00