Microbial biobanking: safeguarding the tiny treasures for sustainable human welfare

Microbial biodiversity is essential for the proper functioning and balance in the ecosystem, and they possess numerous biotechnological and industrial applications. Microbial biobanks serve as a major resource for conserving valuable microbial diversity, providing access for education, research, and industrial applications. The present comprehensive review article discusses the history, responsibilities, and applications of microbial biobanks, covering different regulatory ecosystem and their guidelines for the governance of biobanks. It specifically provides the current global status of MCCs and precisely sheds light on MCCs in India. This review critically highlights a stark disparity in the bio-resources management, showing dominance of Asia with substantial investment in bio-infrastructure. In India, a significant geographical disparity was observed with a heavy concentration of culture collections in states with established research infrastructure. Despite the immense commercial potential of microbes, very few MCCs are held by the private sector globally, leaving the burden of conservation on the public sector and raising concerns about long-term survival and financial instability. Furthermore, there is a critical need for emerging advanced preservation strategies, AI-assisted tools for biobanking operations, and stringent quality control procedures in biobanks meeting international standards. In addition, the findings underscore the necessity of the digitalization of culture collections to facilitate global data sharing and robust policies for access and benefit sharing of microbial resources. In conclusion, addressing these regional disparities, mitigating financial and infrastructure gaps, using emerging and advanced strategies, and digitalization of CCs are imperative for the sustainability and applicability of the microbial biobanks.