Altai State University’s Vice-Rector for Scientific and Innovative Development, Doctor of Biological Sciences Alexey Vaganov, took part in the educational television project Lectures on Tolk

In the new episode, he explained in detail why Russia adopted the law on bioresource centers and collections, what bioresource collections represent, how they differ from biological collections, the problems they address, and why their preservation has become a matter of national security.

Altai State University, the largest university in the region and a participant in the Priority 2030 program, maintains eight major bioresource collections actively used by scientists and students:

Herbarium of the South Siberian Botanical Garden of ASU (ALTB)

Collections of open-field plant genetic resources

Open-field living plant collection representing natural flora

Collection of live, protected plants comprising cultivated taxa

Collection of plant DNA

Collection of plant seeds

Collection of microorganisms

Collection of wild animals for live propagation

In addition, the South Siberian Botanical Garden of ASU is listed in the Register of Particularly Valuable Natural Sites. The Botanical Garden’s living collection includes more than 3,000 live plant species, among them many listed in the Red Data Books of Russia and Altai Krai. Its herbarium contains over 450,000 specimens, ranking seventh in size among Russian universities and research institutes.

Professor Alexander Shmakov, Director of the South Siberian Botanical Garden at Altai State University, has been appointed to the interdepartmental commission on the formation, preservation, and use of genetic resource collections.