Pan-South American biological database project under way

The project of creating a South American biological database - with the official name Patrimonio Genómico y Saberes Locales (PGSL) which roughly translates to "Genomic Heritage and Local Wisdom" - manifested itself with a recent inaugural meeting in Ecuador, where universities and government agencies from various South American countries, as well as bioinformatics solution providers CLC bio, participated and agreed to move to the next phase of the project.

Ecuador's Deputy Secretary of State, Dr. Gonzalo Salvador, stated at the inaugural meeting:
It is a milestone for South America to start the PGSL project, in order to recognize and ensure the unique cultural and natural heritage of South America, through modern and highly advanced science.

The overall goal of the PGSL project is to harvest and preserve nucleotide sequence data from the vast biodiversity throughout the continent and make a database, much like DDBJ in Japan, EMBL in Europe, and GenBank in North America. In addition, the project will scientifically investigate and preserve the ancient and traditional therapeutic healthcare substances - knowledge protected for thousands of years by native civilizations in South America. Another important issue for PGSL is to minimize "bio-piracy" - the act of non-native scientists harvesting and using genetic materials from South America for copyrighted products.

Via live video conference from Denmark, CLC bio's Vice President, Jan Lomholdt, stated at the meeting: Creating a biological database in South America, based on the profound biodiversity throughout the region, is of utmost importance - not only to South America, but to the whole world. It is vital to gain a deeper understanding of the unique species in Amazonia, Patagonia, and the Galápagos Islands, to name a few exceptional areas in the region. It is also essential to develop and maintain the scientific knowledge in South America, and to help increase the overall level of understanding of genetics and bioinformatics.

A fundamental part of the process is the education and training of leaders of the indigenous organizations, scientists, and postgraduate students, under the common agenda of PGSL. CLC bio will support this academic program with their new Educational Package (www.clceducation.com) as well as bioinformatics solutions, and consultancy services throughout the project.

The South American countries have started the project with Mr. Pablo Morales Males from Pontificia Universidad Católica of Ecuador (PUCE) as the Project Director, and PUCE as the central coordinating hub for the project.