Country Report from Korea:Current Status and Future Plan of KCTC/BRC

• Main Author: Lee, Jung-Sook
• Format: Working Paper
• Language: English
• Published: NXB Nông Nghiệp 2011
• Subjects: KCTC/BRC; ACM Hanoi 2009
• Online Access: http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/123456789/9736
• Institution: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

The largest and oldest culture collection in Korea, Korean Collection for Type Cultures (KCTC) has three functions as follows. 1) We carry out the collection and preserv ation of core biological resources from home and abroad, offering public support by distributing biological resources to academia, industry, and research institutions, and organizing patent strain deposit. Especially, we were designated as an International Depositary Authority (IDA) under Budapest Treaty by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Now we can manage about 17 kinds of biological resources including bacteria, yeast, fungi, algae, animal and plant viruses, embryos, animal and plant cell cultures, seeds, RNA and etc. We manage about 18,000 biological resources including patent strains. Every year over 1,500 strains are newly added to KCTC. We also distribute more than 5,000 strains every year to home and abroad. 2) We develop the platform technology for the screening, identification and preservation of useful biological resources. We publish more than 40 papers concerning biological resources. Since 1997, we reported more than 150 new species. Last year, KCTC was cited by over 160 papers i n PubMed search. 3) We are trying to construct on local and international network for biological resources and related information, and support workshops, conferences, and consultation, etc.