BioOne

To conserve and promote the sustainable use of native biological resources, the National Wild Bio-Resource Bank secures and manages a wide range of wild biological materials (genetic resources, natural products, microbial cultures, and seeds) based on precise species identification, providing them free of charge to academic, industrial, and research institutions.

The NIBR National Wild Bio-Resource Bank was established to conserve biodiversity and promote its sustainable use. By securing and preserving a wide range of biological materials from native species inhabiting Korea’s mountains, fields, and rivers, the Bank strengthens biological sovereignty and supports the bioindustry through free distribution to academic, industrial, and research users.
In addition, the Bank explores and supplies wild organisms as fundamental bioresources to address environmental issues such as improving living and soil environments, and provides “On-site Wild Bio-Resource Consulting” services to support the optimal biological materials for various applications.

The Bank secures diverse types of wild biological materials, including genetic resources, cultures, natural products, and seeds. Through morphological and genetic analyses, it ensures accurate species identification and conducts customized quality inspections for each material type, maintaining them under optimal preservation conditions.
Genetic resources serve as reference samples for species and genotype identification of native organisms. The Bank preserves and manages over 211,000 samples from more than 20,000 species across animals, plants, and microorganisms, including tissues, DNA, and animal cells, providing high-quality specimens to support related research.
To conserve and utilize native microbial resources, the Bank has secured over 24,800 strains of prokaryotes, fungi, and algae, maintaining them under preservation conditions tailored to each taxonomic group. When distributed, detailed information on optimal culture conditions for each strain is provided to support their use in research and industrial applications.
To promote the use of native species, the Bank has secured and manages over 6,300 wild organism extracts, distributing them free of charge to domestic researchers and industries engaged in natural product research. Information such as extraction methods for accurately identified native plant extracts—verified through voucher specimens and genetic analysis—is provided to ensure high reliability.
For the conservation and use of native plant resources, the Bank has secured over 24,900 wild plant seeds and spores, preserving them according to the characteristics of each taxonomic group. Quality is managed through non-destructive X-ray seed viability and vigor tests, and information such as germination and propagation conditions is provided to encourage utilization.
The Bank also contributes to the commercialization and popularization of wild plants by securing customized seed resources, conducting research on germination traits and conditions, and developing mass-propagation technologies for key materials.

The National Wild Bio-Resource Bank offers “Wild Bio-Resource Consulting,” providing comprehensive information such as taxonomy, ecology, usability, patent data, and propagation conditions for each species. This service supports the development of new materials in various bioindustry fields, including pharmaceuticals, food, and cosmetics.

The Freshwater Bioresources Culture Collection (FBCC) contributes to the sustainable use of valuable biological resources by securing, preserving, and enhancing the value of freshwater wild biological materials and providing distribution services.

As the only freshwater wild biological resources bank in Korea, the FBCC at Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBR) was established in 2016 to promote the sustainable use of high-value freshwater wild biological materials.

Freshwater wild biological materials include species that use freshwater habitats for all or part of their life cycle, or organisms parasitic on freshwater species (animals, plants, fungi/lichens, protozoa, prokaryotes), as well as natural products (extracts, secondary metabolites, etc.) and genetic resources (tissues, DNA, etc.) derived from them.
The FBCC operates advanced facilities, including a genetic resource storage, freeze-dried ampoule storage, bioresource culture laboratories, freshwater microalgae culture and preservation rooms, extract concentration facilities, and separation and purification labs, to ensure high-quality material preservation and distribution.
The FBCC currently preserves and manages over 24,200 materials (microalgae, bacteria, fungi, natural extracts) and has provided approximately 23,300 materials to researchers in academia, industry, and research institutes over the past seven years.
Through the wild biological material cluster promotion project under the 3rd Master Plan for Biological Research Resources, the bank has upgraded its material quality management system to international standards. The “Advanced Freshwater Bioresources Culture Research Group” was organized to collect and manage key usability information requested by users.
By 2026, the bank aims to achieve international-level quality management through ISO 9001 (Quality Management System) and ISO 20387 (Biological Resource Bank) certifications, producing 67,000 datasets on basic usability information (anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, antibacterial, etc.) and 1,000 omics datasets (genomics, metabolomics, etc.). This ensures the provision of reliable freshwater wild biological materials, contributing to the activation of the national bioindustry.

The FBCC will continue to lead the supply of the highest-quality freshwater wild biological materials and the enhancement of research data utilization for Korea’s bio-research and industrial sectors.

The Bank of Bioresources from Island and Coast (BOBIC) aims to efficiently preserve and manage biological resources discovered in Korea’s islands and coastal areas and provide them where needed, contributing to the advancement of life sciences research and the bioindustry.

Korea has approximately 3,400 islands, which, due to their natural intersection of marine and terrestrial environments as well as unique coastal and wetland ecosystems, possess immense potential for national biological resource development.
Opened in November 2021, the BOBIC is Korea’s only specialized institution for island and coastal wild biological resources, managing the preservation, management, and distribution of biological materials including natural products (raw samples, extracts), genetic resources (gDNA, tissues), and cultures (bacteria, fungi, microalgae).

In 2023, the BOBIC developed a standard operating manual to guide systematic management, deposit, preservation, and distribution procedures for wild biological resources. Through the acquisition and maintenance of the ISO 9001 quality management certification, it has enhanced the quality management system for biological resources and improved material reliability, contributing to increased distribution.
Additionally, as part of the national life research resources big data strategy, the “Island Wild Biological Resources Advanced Research Team” was officially launched in 2023 under the multi-ministerial project for the advancement of national life research resources.
By 2026, the BOBIC plans to secure over 2,914 island- and coastal-specialized wild biological resources, more than 36,000 omics big data entries, and over 49,462 usability information entries. Through infrastructure advancement, it aims to provide high-quality, customized materials to academia, industry, and research users, establishing itself as an internationally recognized biological resource bank and accelerating national bio-distribution growth.

The BOBIC will serve as a central hub to ensure sustainable utilization of island and coastal wild biological resources by systematically managing and preserving biological materials and their valuable information through an efficient, standardized system, distributing them to academia, industry, and research sectors to enable effective use of national resources.