Culture collections are a priceless resource for the biotech sector: now is the time to harness the power of microbes for the good of humanity!

Dr Samantha Law, Culture Collection Curator, NCIMB

The establishment of a National Collection of Industrial Bacteria in 1950 was arguably an idea ahead of its time, but for more than 70 years NCIMB has been preserving, storing, and supplying microbes with industrial applications. We’ve added “food” and “marine” bacteria to our resource over the years and today our collection includes thousands of strains isolated from an amazing diversity of sources in geographical locations throughout the world, with new deposits from researchers ensuring that it remains up to date and reflective of the latest directions in research and development.

Here at NCIMB we have long believed that our collection is a treasure trove of potential, and that those who established it are unsung visionary heroes, but it’s starting to feel as though we’re at the cusp of a new era. There seems to be a step change in attitude towards biotechnological solutions to everyday requirements, and the role of microorgansims in providing them. We’ve taken part in three industry events in the past three months that are a good illustration of this growing interest in culture collections as a resource.

Back in May were delighted to take part in the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA) event “The Power of Microbes and the Circular Bioeconomy” to highlight the diversity of strains in our collection, and their availability for screening to this audience. BBIA works with companies and organisations involved in the production of bio-based and biodegradable chemicals and polymers for the benefit of the environment – plastic waste in particular is a highly topical issue and one in which microbes could offer a range of solutions.

In July I was invited to take part in a session of the 19th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, focussed on Natural Product Libraries: challenges of management, isolation and characterisation. This workshop was an excellent opportunity to speak about the best practices for maintaining your biobank so the material held within it remains viable for the scientists of today and the future. Of course, there is nothing new in using microorganisms for our benefit, and there are many existing examples, including antimicrobials, pigments, probiotics, beer to name but a few. However I believe that biobanks are a great source of genetically diverse material which should be correctly maintained, as their value as a resource for industry will only increase in the future.

The third event was a High Value Biorenewables workshop, focussed on the personal care sector. As society transitions away from fossil fuels, it is not only our energy sources that need to be replaced with sustainable alternatives – we need to find alternatives to a host of fossil derived ingredients found in products most people use every day – such as shower gels, shampoos and cosmetics. It could be argued that this sector has an advantage over some other chemical-using industries in this transition – positive perception and reputation are essential to the commercial success of personal care products and consumers are increasingly demanding products that align with their values on sustainability. There is a long history of using natural ingredients within this sector, but of course most products still contain basic ingredients that are fossil-fuel derived. Microbial culture collections have a major role to play in providing industry with strains that can be screened for novel functionality so it was great to be able to introduce representatives from this sector to some of NICMB’s “microbial superheroes” and the potential for natural product discovery within our culture collection.

Of course, it’s easy to talk about these things, but for positive change towards a sustainable society to be realised, we urgently need action – and recently, it does feel like we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries and orders for strains from companies developing innovative microbial products and processes. Microorganisms are already being used in amazing ways, but I firmly believe that industry has only scratched the surface in terms of what is possible.

For more than 70 years NCIMB has been preserving microbial biodiversity and building an amazing genetic resource for the 21st century. Biotechnology is the route to harnessing the power within that resource for the good of society. Some fantastic work is already underway, but I there’s a huge amount of potential still to be discovered – our culture collection was created with a focus on industrial application and we need to make sure that the biotech industry makes full use of it.