National Gene Bank of Plants of Ukraine (Kharkiv) has been destroyed

One of the world’s largest the National Gene Bank of named after V.Ya. Yuriev National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, located in Kharkiv, has been destroyed during the ongoing war waged by Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The gene bank was established in 1990s as part of the Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine project, an initiative of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences. By early 2021 it has collected 151,300 specimens belonging to 544 crops and 1,802 species of plants. In terms of its volume and diversity, the Gene Bank was one of the 10 largest gene banks in the world.