Name:
Biorepository of organisms of interest for the research of new bioactive compounds (BioRepBA)

Developed by:
National Institute of Biology, Piran, Slovenia; Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Countrie(s) involved:
Bosnia and Herzegovina; Slovenia; Croatia

Funding sources:
National (ministries, agencies, regions); Own funding; EU other – LIFE, COST, DG, EMFAF…

Specific organism(s) focused:
BioRepBA is an interdisciplinary project that encourages partnership between the public, private and non-governmental sectors, international scientific and professional cooperation of the countries of the region (BiH, Croatia, Slovenia) and implements ecological principles with the aim of responsible management and environmental protection in the light of the “One Health” concept. The project contributes to a higher level of internationalization through interdisciplinary research on the subterranean habitats of the Dinarides and marine habitats along the BiH cost, and encourages responsible research an innovation (RRI) using biotechnology. The main goal of this project, in addition to bioprospecting, is the establishment of the first, organized Biorepository at UNSA – Faculty of Science, for the purpose of high-quality and long-term storage of biological samples (microorganisms, multicellular organisms and their derivatives), isolates (DNA, RNA, proteins) and biomass, which are important for biotechnological research.

Specific organism(s) focused:
Yes

Specific organism(s) focused:
Archaea, bacteria, cyanobacteria; Fungi and Traustochytrids; Microalgae; Macroalgae; Metazoa (tunicates, molluscs, sponges, Cnidaria, etc.)

Serctor(s) involved:
Yes

Serctor(s) involved:
Aquaculture and fisheries technologies; Waste valorization; Biomedical; Pharmaceutical; Bio-inspired materials; Cosmetics and wellbeing; Bioremediation, ecosystem restoration, climate change mitigation and other environmental biotechnology; Biorefinery; Circular economy

TRL:
TRL 1-3

Helix sector/involvement:
Research performing organizations and academia; Ministries, agencies, local administration; NGOs and civil organizations; Networks, clusters, associations, societiesYes

Link to the good practice:
https://genubih.ba/Bilten/No21

Comments:
Thanks to the successful cooperation within the aforementioned COST action Ocean4Biotech (CA18238), the University of Sarajevo became a “satellite” in 2023 of the Biorepository Ocean4Biotech, a database of marine organisms with biotechnological potential (http://o4b.biomarep.org/). 10 countries participated in the creation of the biorepository, whose data are organized within 12 satellite web bases that are mutually independent.