Climate, crisis, and crops: Why gene and seed banks are more essential than ever

In a secure facility deep in the Arctic permafrost, more than a million seed samples lie dormant. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, often dubbed the "doomsday vault," is perhaps the most famous symbol of global efforts to conserve plant biodiversity. But behind the icy doors of this facility, and hundreds of other seed banks around the globe, lies a complex network of science, policy, and passion. 

At the heart of this story is Fiona Hay, a plant researcher whose career has spanned continents and institutions, from the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens in the UK to the rice gene banks of the Philippines. She has spent decades safeguarding one of the world’s most precious resources: seeds. 

“We need them,” Fiona Hay says simply. “It’s a no-brainer. Without seeds, there’s no food, and without diversity in seeds, there’s no resilience.” 

From maths to meadows: A lifelong fascination 

Fiona Hay’s path to seed conservation began when she was still at school and a teenage subscription to a short-lived journal aimed at prospective plant science students and undergraduates. “It had this article with a nomograph on seed longevity,” she recalls. “It brought together my love of maths and biology.” That one article sent her on a trajectory toward the science of seed storage, a field that demands equal parts botanical understanding, statistical modelling, and global collaboration. 

After a placement at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Fiona stayed on for her PhD and joined the Millennium Seed Bank project, a bold effort to conserve 10% of the world’s wild flora. From harvesting aquatic plant seeds in British lakes to managing rice diversity in the Philippines, her work has consistently focused on improving how seeds are stored, monitored, and eventually regenerated. 

Why gene and seed banks matter more than ever 

Gene and seed banks are not museums. They are active collections of genetic material, intended to support food security, breeding innovation, and ecological resilience. The distinction between seed banks and gene banks is subtle but important. 

“Seed banks typically conserve wild species,” Fiona Hay explains. “Gene banks focus on crops. They’re conserving genetic diversity within crop species, which is critical for breeding plants that can withstand new diseases, pests, or drought.” 

In a world beset by compounding crises from war to climate change these banks serve as insurance policies. When the ICARDA gene bank in Aleppo, Syria, had to be abandoned due to civil war, researchers were able to reconstruct its collection using safety duplicates stored in Svalbard. 

“That’s the system working,” Fiona Hay says. 

But even the best system needs constant upkeep. “The protocols are standardised by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations),” she explains, “but maintaining seed viability takes training, funding, and sometimes, rethinking old rules.” 

Drying, freezing, and the science of longevity 

One such reevaluation of old rules concerns how seeds are dried before storage. Conventional wisdom, and FAO standards, dictate drying seeds at 15°C and 15% relative humidity. But Fiona Hay’s research suggests a radical improvement: drying seeds at higher temperatures, like 30–40°C, can more than double their longevity. 

“Higher temperatures mimic what happens naturally,” she says. “In many cases, seeds are harvested before they’re fully dry. By drying them warmer, we let them finish maturing, and that makes a big difference.” 

It’s a small tweak with potentially huge implications especially for gene banks in tropical countries, where energy costs and infrastructure are limiting factors. “It’s one of those insights that could make conservation more efficient and equitable.” 

Fiona Hay’s team also works on automating seed sorting and characterisation, using image analysis and AI, tools that could eventually make gene banks smarter, faster, and less vulnerable to human error. 

Beyond the vault: Food security and equity 

The stakes for gene banks are growing. Global crop diversity is eroding. According to the FAO, 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost since the early 20th century, largely due to industrial agriculture and monoculture farming. As we push crops to yield more in harsher conditions, we also make them more vulnerable to failure. 

Gene banks, especially those in the CGIAR system, like the International Rice Research Institute, act as global stewards of crop diversity. These institutions maintain collections in trust for humanity, under international agreements that aim to balance open access with benefit-sharing. 

“We’ve seen cases where national gene banks lost material due to conflict, natural disasters, or simply lack of funding and were able to request it back from the international collections,” Fiona Hay says. “That’s real resilience.” 

The idea isn’t just to save seeds. It’s to keep them alive, useful, and accessible. That includes training local staff, improving regeneration techniques, and even predicting which seeds to store based on usage patterns, all to avoid costly and risky regeneration cycles. 

“Gene banks need to minimise how often they regenerate material,” Fiona Hay explains. “Every regeneration carries a risk of losing genetic integrity, and it’s expensive.” 

A multilateral effort with a fragile future 

Despite their importance, gene banks operate in a precarious funding landscape. Many depend on short-term grants or donations, with limited infrastructure to guarantee long-term sustainability. That’s why the Global Crop Diversity Trust was established, to create an endowment fund to sustain operations at the international gene banks of the CGIAR. 

“We need to move beyond vanity projects,” Fiona Hay cautions. “It’s not about building new vaults. It’s about sustaining the ones we already have, and using them better.” 

She has also consulted for the FAO and is now working with seed collections across Asia, Africa, and Europe, helping implement best practices and improve longevity outcomes. Her recent research includes a study on African rice, Oryza glaberrima, and a project with Australian collaborators to assess the storage potential of wild species. 

Seeds of the future 

What does the future hold? Fiona Hay sees both challenges and promise. Climate change is already disrupting regeneration sites. Trained seed conservationists are in short supply. But new technologies, from AI to cryopreservation, offer powerful tools. 

Still, the core message remains unchanged. 

“If I had one message,” she says, “it’s this: we need gene banks. For food, for resilience, for the future. Everything starts with a seed.”