Farmers breeding cattle, sheep, and goats in Chile can look forward to improved services. Seed, tissues, DNA sequences, and other germplasm samples from these farm animal species will be managed by a new bank operated by the INIA Tamel Aike Regional Research Center.
REUNA, the national research and education network (NREN) of Chile, has supplied the necessary connectivity for the bank, which is the first of its kind in Chile.
The service is initially offered to users in the Aysén Region and will gradually be expanded into a national solution.
“In principle, the bank will focus on managing germplasm from cattle, sheep and goats in the region but with capacity for receiving samples from the entire country”, explains researcher Andrés Carvajal, INIA Tamel Aike, heading the implementation of the bank.
Safeguarding local biodiversity
Besides contributing to improved breeding by selecting germplasm from superior individual animals, the new germplasm bank has a role in safeguarding local biodiversity.
“The germplasm is preserved at cryo-conditions (at temperatures of approximately minus196 degrees Celsius, ed.) under strict parameters for quality, hygiene, and purity. Ultimately, the bank will be a genetic security in case of catastrophic events, accidents, and climatic challenges, thereby ensuring that the genes our local species which are adapted to regional conditions will not be lost,” says Carvajal, continuing:
“This is especially important for germplasm of animals which are adapted to territories with challenging environmental conditions, such as the Aysén Region and the entire Patagonia.”
Satellite connectivity makes a difference
The new germplasm bank does not only depend on physical facilities; large data volumes must be managed, involving both data storage and real-time processing of analysis, and communications with colleagues nationally and internationally. To this end, the agricultural researchers have the support of the Patagonia Project, an initiative led by REUNA and funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation through its National Research and Development Agency (ANID) to improve the digital capacity of Chile’s most Southern part.
In the case of INIA Tamel Aike, a satellite link was implemented via Starlink to connect the campus where the germplasm bank is located, in Valle Simpson, 30 km from Coyhaique.
“The connectivity we have now is highly important. The previous connection was not functioning well and we experienced numerous problems. Without the assistance from REUNA and the Patagonia Project we would not have had the technology necessary for aligning the workflows of the laboratory’s equipment. Furthermore, we have another facility responsible for producing liquid nitrogen (necessary to maintain cryo-conditions, ed.), and without the Internet connection we have now, we would not have been able to begin operation there,” says Viviana Soto, regional vice-director for administration and finance at INIA Tamel Aike.
The text is inspired by the article “INIA Tamel Aike Implementará el Primer Banco de Germoplasma Animal de Chile” (in Spanish) by Carolina Muñoz in the Red en Acción magazine (to be found at the REUNA website).
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