YAKUTSK, May 8. /TASS/. The project of an international cryostorage for seeds that uses Yakutia's natural cold will be presented at the 8th Russian-Chinese EXPO, due on May 17-21 in Harbin, the Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone's chief researcher, Professor Boris Kershengolts, told TASS

In November, 2023, the project was presented at the Federation Council and was recommended for implementation at the international level, first of all in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), with the participation of China, India, Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Latin America.

"The project of an international cryostorage for seeds in permafrost, which uses only natural cold, will be presented at the 8th Russian-Chinese EXPO at the Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center on May 17-21," the scientist said. "It is one of the events China organizes in connection with the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Russia. We have every reason to hope that from 2025 the project will become international."

International project

The scientist believes the project will successfully compete with the Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen. "Moreover, in recent years, the Doomsday Vault has experienced many problems due to warming in the Arctic. The permafrost there is very unstable, and they have much less winter cold there than we have in central Yakutia. Since freezing temperatures are maintained in the Global Seed Vault due to additional artificial cooling, electricity for which comes from power plants using coal, mined there, that facility is also environmentally controversial," the professor noted.

According to the scientist, China, India and other countries may be interested in placing their own seed collections for guaranteed long-term storage, and may also act as investors.

"To expand the storage, we have prepared a feasibility project to use Yakutia's winter atmosphere cold and the cold of perennially frozen ground, with the storage capacity of up to 1 million seed samples - agricultural species as well as wild plants, rare, endangered plant species - in the interests of both food and environmental safety. A new cryostorage could be built should there be available investors - industrial partners, including the SCO countries," the scientist said, adding the construction is estimated at 1.2 billion rubles ($13 million) in 2023 prices.

The cryostorage is one of infrastructure projects of the world-class scientific and educational center North: Territory of Sustainable Development. To support it, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education has organized at the Center a youth laboratory to study Yakut plants' gene pool.