Scientists Urge Doomsday Vault for ‘Good’ Germs

(Bloomberg) -- As the world’s microbial diversity is decimated by antibiotics, processed food, filtered water and other wonders of modern life, researchers are proposing the creation of a global microbiota vault to protect the long-term health of humanity.

Human microbiota, a community of trillions of microorganisms that include bacteria, fungi and viruses, perform critical health functions in the human body, from facilitating digestion to bolstering the immune system. Scientists believe the loss of microbial diversity has already had serious health consequences—and could soon lead to a crisis. Rutgers University researchers are proposing that a last-resort vault be built to store “good” germs that might soon disappear from the planet.

“The decline in microbial diversity has been dramatic in the last 50 to 70 years, decreasing with each new generation,” said Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, the lead author of the proposal and a professor in the Rutgers Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology. “But we can’t wait another 70 years. This is a threat to us right now. Asthma, celiac disease, allergies, Type 1 diabetes and autism are skyrocketing. And the loss of microbial diversity is likely an underlying factor. The question is: Can we restore them?” 

Yes, Dominguez-Bello said. But only if researchers, scientists and governments act now.

As urban communities see a decline in microbial diversity, Dominguez-Bello said she hopes to spur researchers to collect samples from people with robust, healthy microbes. Such individuals tend to be located in remote regions with little access to certain modern medicines, she said. Indigenous South Americans who haven’t been exposed to antibiotics, for example, have double the gut diversity of otherwise-healthy people in the U.S., according to a 2015 report from Science Magazine.

The microbial vault would act as hard drive of sorts, in which researchers could store back-ups of vanishing microbiota. Scientists and doctors may one day be able to prevent certain diseases by reintroducing lost microbiota to at-risk populations, the researchers said. “In the case of war or an epidemic, this collection could potentially be used for humanitarian reasons,” Dominguez-Bello said. “The United Nations could ask the depositors to retrieve certain microbiota in the case of emergency.” 

The idea for such a vault was inspired by other “bio-banks,” most famously the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure facility on a Norwegian island above the Arctic circle. It’s home to the world’s largest collection of crop diversity. Dominguez-Bello estimates the microbial vault will require about $3 million in its first year to hire workers who will then collect and store microbes in a repository equipped with liquid nitrogen tanks. Once fully launched, the vault would need continuous funding to sustain itself.

The facility should be located in a politically neutral country with sufficient resources to guarantee the safety of the collection, according to the proposal. Neutrality is critical, said Dominguez-Bello, because all countries must be willing to contribute to the collection in order to make it as diverse, and thus as comprehensive, as possible.  

In just two years, what began as a dystopic fear has morphed into a concrete proposal. Dominguez-Bello and her fellow researchers plan to solicit donors, sponsors and partners. She warned that the declining state of microbial diversity, while not as widely known as climate change, is just as much of a crisis—both in cause and potential consequences.

“Our urban lifestyle is causing collateral damage at the macro level—the Earth—and the micro level: our own bodies,” she said. “We need to grow our food in a sustainable way that’s healthy for the planet, and use clean technology and medicines that respect our biology. Our health involves both.”

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.