Scientists call for microbial ‘Noah’s Ark’ to protect global health

Science Daily  October 4, 2018
A team of researchers in the US (Rutgers University, UC San Diego, University of Chicago, New York University) is calling for the creation of a global microbiota vault to protect the long-term health of humanity similar to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s largest collection of crop diversity created in case of natural or human-made disasters. According to the researchers over a handful of generations, we have seen a staggering loss in microbial diversity linked with a worldwide spike in immune and other disorders. It may be possible one day to prevent disease by reintroducing lost microbes. An international effort, including significant funding, would be needed to collect and store the collected microbes in a global repository…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE 

In a previous study, Rutgers Professor Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello found increases in microbiome diversity of urban children. Credit: Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello/Rutgers University-New Brunswick