Microbes are not only beautiful but often very valuable. Roger Highfield
reports on a national asset under threat
BRITAIN'S world-beating collections of the smallest living things - bacteria, human
cells, fungi and yeasts - are at risk unless the Government introduces a national policy
to safeguard their future, says a report by an independent group of scientists.
The collections of 42,500 cultures are the product of nearly a century of research. They
provide reference cultures to help identify the strain of a flesh eating bacterium, for
example, or to monitor the spread of genetically engineered organisms.
They include about a dozen cell lines grown from human foetuses aborted for medical
reasons, including two that were used to provide the virus and production medium for a
rubella vaccine that has recently been the subject of a campaign by anti-abortionists.
They have enormous economic importance, being used to create a vast range of products
such as vaccines, vitamins, meat substitutes, artificial snow, biodegradable plastics,
insecticides, yoghurts, dyes, beers and wines.
The national collections of cultures also has huge scientific significance, helping understanding of the living diversity of the planet.
Microbes are the most abundant, diverse and versatile organisms and make a huge, though
poorly understood, contribution to the global economy.
"The preservation of living culture collections is just as important as the preservation of
ancient monuments and museums," commented Sir William Stewart, the Government's
Chief Scientific Adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology. "People say a
lot about protecting lions and tigers, but because these microbes cannot be seen does not
mean they are not more important."
Yet this national asset was being "dissipated" and a previous report from the House of Lords
had raised concerns that, although it was deemed "remarkable," "invaluable" and "critical"
by researchers and biotechnologists, it was not being properly looked after.
The collections are under threat because of the lack of a national policy, said the independent
report commissioned by the Office of Science and Technology and written by a group of
experts under the chairmanship of Prof Roger Whittenbury of Warwick University.
The group calls for the 11 national collections, supported by eight sources of Government
funding, to be brought under a single organisation to make the most of the links between
them and reduce the pressure on the scientists tending them.
Overall responsibility for the "radical reorganisation" should rest with the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council, with additional funding of #1 million so that the
collections would be sustainable, properly documented and placed on a more commercial
basis, for instance by better promotion and marketing.
The major centres would be the International Mycological Institute at Egham, Surrey, the
National Collection of Industrial and Marine Bacteria at Aberdeen and the European
Collection of Animal Cell Cultures at Porton Down, Salisbury.
The ECACC at Porton Down possesses about 10,000 cell lines from people with hereditary
diseases, for human genetics studies backed by the British Diabetic Association and the
Medical Research Council; about 700 animal cell cultures ; 700 lines of human tumour cells
used for cancer research, and about a dozen foetal cell lines.
The foetal cell lines, such as MRC-5, used for the rubella vaccine, are employed for such
purposes because, for example, they offer a medium for vaccine production at low risk of
contamination by other viruses.
The strength of the British collections lies in the way they have been developed over the years to complement advanced research projects, said Dr Jenny Brown of the University of Warwick, another member of the working group set in response to the Lords' report.
Mr David Hunt, Minister for Science, said that he would consider the report carefully.
