The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) has announced the establishment of Korea’s first marine plankton storage room, designed specifically for the storage and management of marine plankton, an environmentally-friendly biological resource with incredible future potential.

[LIMS: Library of Marine Samples]

Marine plankton has been pointed to as a new source of clean energy and industrial materials with the potential to allow reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Not only is it a major focus of research on how to reduce damage to marine resources, such as that caused by the recent red tides and global warming, but it is also considered to be a vital marine resource for the future industrialization of the marine and fisheries sectors, as it forms the foundation of the marine food chain and has great potential for use in aquaculture.

The KIOST Marine Plankton Preservation Room is Korea’s first research support facility dedicated to the systematic preservation of marine plankton. At the core of its operation is a remarkable system, developed by a KIOST research team led by Dr. Shin Hyeon-ho, designed to provide the optimal environment for plankton storage by automatically controlling temperature and light, the factors with the greatest influence on the ecosystem of marine plankton. 

[marine plankton storage room]

The marine plankton preservation room currently stores and manages some 1,800 cultures. In January 2016, it was designated by the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fishers (MOF) as the main facility for the deposit, registration, storage, and preservation and management of marine plankton.

Dr. Shin commented, “The Marine Plankton Preservation Room is like a five-star hotel for marine plankton.” He went on to say, “With the active support of the MOF and KIOST, we expect that this facility will make a significant contribution to increasing Korea’s national competitiveness in the field of marine biotechnology by acquiring and managing more diverse marine plankton resources and intensifying related research.”

Located in the Library of Marine Samples of the KIOST South Sea Research Institute, the Marine Plankton Preservation Room is currently building a marine plankton search and distribution system with the goal of increasing the convenience with which experts in related fields are able to conduct their research. It hopes to launch the new system in the second half of 2016.