Banking Biodiversity: Ex Vivo Solutions for a Planet in Crisis

The accelerating biodiversity crisis demands urgent and systematic biobanking of biological materials to preserve the genetic and cellular foundations of life before they are lost. Zoos remain essential centers for engagement, education, research, and species survival, yet their demographic and spatial limitations mean they cannot serve as the sole custodians of biodiversity. To secure a lasting legacy, zoos must integrate biobanking into their core activities, linking living populations with frozen repositories so that the animals they house today also safeguard the genetic potential of tomorrow. This review surveys the current landscape and emerging promise of wildlife biobanking, emphasizing its role in genetic rescue, disease resilience, and the recovery of lost traits. We argue that prioritization strategies should extend beyond IUCN status to encompass genetic metrics, ecological importance, and evolutionary distinctiveness, ensuring that biobanks capture not only threatened species but also irreplaceable evolutionary lineages. Looking ahead, we highlight the future potential of biobanked materials in enabling advanced interventions, including genome editing and other frontier technologies. By coupling frozen repositories with living populations, conservation can overcome the constraints of space and time, transforming biobanks into engines of resilience, restoration, and innovation. In an era of accelerating biodiversity loss, biobanking should not be viewed as a last-resort measure. Instead, it should be planned proactively and actively incorporated into the One Plan Approach to species conservation, alongside habitat protection, wild population management, zoo-based conservation, captive breeding, reintroduction, and genetic management, ensuring that the genetic options necessary for future recovery and adaptation are preserved today.