The Future of Species Conservation: How Cryopreservation, Collaboration, and Data Sharing Will Help Save Biodiversity
- By Jim Guenter
Every day, we witness the growing urgency of conservation efforts as species face habitat loss, climate change, and other threats to survival. The need for innovative solutions has never been greater, and one of the most promising advances in conservation is cryopreservation – the long-term preservation of genetic material to support species recovery and genetic rescue.
At Species360, we believe that data-driven conservation is key to addressing biodiversity loss. As the stewards of the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), the world’s most comprehensive system for collaborative species population and animal health management, we see a critical opportunity to extend this approach to cryopreservation. ZIMS enables global collaboration and data-sharing for animal care, breeding, and health, and serves as a model for ensuring that cryobanked genetic materials are cataloged, accessible, and effectively used in conservation efforts worldwide.
Why cryobanking matters for species recovery
Cryobanking provides a safety net for species at risk of extinction. By preserving genetic material such as sperm, eggs, embryos, tissues, and even DNA,scientists and conservationists can ensure that future breeding, cloning, or genetic rescue efforts have access to the genetic diversity needed to sustain populations.
This is especially crucial for:
- Critically endangered species – Cryobanked samples may be one of the last lifelines for future recovery for species with dwindling wild populations. This paper, highlights how living cell banks can contribute to species conservation.
- Small or Isolated Populations – Maintaining genetic diversity is essential for healthy populations, and cryopreserved material can be used to prevent inbreeding. This has been used to great effect to safeguard threatened species of staghorn and elkhorn coral species, through the creation of the world’s first coral cryobank.
- Reintroduction and Assisted Reproductive Technologies – Advanced techniques, such as artificial insemination and cloning, depend on stored genetic material to reintroduce or sustain populations. The conservation success story of black-footed ferrets is another great example of the role assisted reproductive techniques can play in boosting population numbers of a once-extinct species.
However, for cryobanking to realise its full potential, we need global investment in cryopreservation facilities and related infrastructure, coordination and prioritization to ensure efficiency, clearly defined rules of ownership to ensure global equity and respect, and shared and accessible data.
Black footed ferrets and elkhorn coral, pictured, are just two species that have been saved from extinction thanks to cryobanking. Black footed ferret image credit: USDA photo by Kristy Bly World Wildlife Fund.
How ZIMS provides a model for cryobanking data sharing
For over 50 years, Species360 has enabled thousands of zoos, aquariums, and conservation organizations to collect and share vital data on over 26,000 species through ZIMS. This global collaboration has revolutionized species management by ensuring that institutions worldwide can track animal health, breeding histories, and genetic lineages. Of the species populations in ZIMS, 34 species are classified as extinct in the wild, over 500 are critically engaged, and more than 800 species are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
These populations maintained in human care (ex situ) are critical to species survival. Similarly, cryobanked samples will be essential to the genetic health of these populations.
A successful cryopreservation network would require a similar approach. An accessible, global data repository for cryopreserved genetic material would allow conservationists to:
- Locate viable genetic samples across institutions, avoiding unnecessary duplication.
- Ensure genetic diversity is preserved and available for breeding and recovery programs when needed.
- Prevent duplicate sampling, maximize resources, and ensure valuable genetic material is stored and used effectively.
- Support species prioritization for cryopreservation, ensuring species are conserved before their status is critical.
- Promote active collaboration across the conservation community on the advances and techniques for cryopreservation, assisted reproductive techniques, and other related fields.
- Connect researchers and conservationists working to restore species, ensuring the right material is used at the right time.
- Support critical international policies and guidance, including:
- The United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Nagoya Protocol and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2020 Resolution 079 (WCC-2020-Res-079) calls for establishing a collaborative global biobanking network.
- The IUCN’s position statement on the role of botanic gardens, aquariums, and zoos in species conservation
- Support efficient population management for existing managed populations, simplifying and reducing costs of animal movements.
- Develop and systematically maintain standardized protocols and ethical considerations to ensure cryopreserved samples’ effective and responsible use.
- Store genetic material close to the source, minimizing permit concerns and promoting fair use.
Secured data repositories where individual institutions own and manage data and samples, supplemented by a trust-based network to ensure broad but consensus-driven data sharing. - Secured data repositories where individual institutions own and manage data and samples, supplemented by a trust-based network to ensure broad but consensus-driven data sharing.
By applying the principles of data standardization, accessibility, and collaboration—which have made ZIMS a cornerstone of global conservation—cryopreservation efforts can be scaled, organized, and made more impactful.
The path forward
Cryobanking is still in its early stages for many species and institutions, but its potential is immense. While only a few institutions may have the resources to maintain cryopreservation facilities, many more can contribute by collecting, coordinating, and sharing samples. Through a shared global system, these contributions can have a far-reaching impact. The article: Strategies for establishing and using genome resource banks to protect genetic diversity in conservation breeding programs highlights the significant conservation potential of Genome Resource Banks (GRBs) in preserving species genetic diversity and presents guidelines for integrating GRBs into conservation breeding programs.
At Species360, we believe that data-driven conservation is key to addressing biodiversity loss. ZIMS enables global collaboration and data-sharing for animal health and welfare and consrvation breeding and we see a critical opportunity to extend ZIMS to support cryopreservation. ZIMS work with living animals serves as a model for ensuring that cryobanked genetic material in living samples are cataloged, accessible, and effectively used in conservation efforts worldwide.
Species360 is committed to supporting this effort by leveraging data-driven solutions and working with conservation partners to ensure that cryopreservation data is available for those who need it most. ZIMS has transformed how we track and manage animal populations and the same principles can help safeguard species’ future through cryopreservation.
Thanks to investments from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), we extended ZIMS to support cross-institution biobanking. More recent sponsorship from the Toronto Zoo led to ZIMS’ support for capturing crucial details for living samples. We look forward to gaining additional community insights and support to ensure ZIMS can support cryopreservation for the broader conservation community. Through ZIMS, we can promote and simplify the processes of identifying, prioritizing, and capturing critical samples and recording essential data across over 1350 member institutions.
Together, through innovation, collaboration, and shared knowledge, we can create a future where species have a second chance,even in the face of extinction.
Join the conversation
We’d love to share our progress and hear from conservationists, researchers, and organizations interested in cryopreservation and data-sharing solutions. Let’s work together to build a global model for genetic rescue. Feel free to contact us at support@species360.org
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