The Nordic Genetic Resource Centre NordGen, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gene banks take the data management system SESTO instead of 2020. A summer introduction of the international system GRIN-Global.

The database containing all the information about the germplasm is the heart of every genebank. It provides knowledge about every single seed bag and plant- which is crucial for both research and for maintaining the collections. To have a wellfunctioning, reliable and up-to-date database system is therefore of the utmost importance.

 Launch of the new system

The new common database for the Nordic and Baltic countries will be launched in the summer of 2020. All data that has been stored in the old database system SESTO will be migrated to GRINGlobal. The main part of the migration will take place during the summer, while images and evaluation data will be added in the autumn. SESTO will be closed for editing and ordering after launch. The Nordic Baltic genebank system will open for browsing and ordering soon after at the URL:www.nordic-baltic-genebanks.org, where user guides can also be found.

Nordic-Baltic cooperation

The new Nordic Baltic GRIN-Global system will be a continuation of the close cooperation among the Nordic and Baltic countries within the field of plant genetic resources. NordGen as well as the national genebanks in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will all use the common GRIN-Global system for their data. It will be used both as a tool within each genebank and for external users to browse information and order material.

Why change to GRIN-Global?

SESTO was developed by NordGen and has been in use since 2002. Unfortunately, the code is today outdated, and it is difficult and time-consuming to add features and to correct errors.

Something had to be done, and the choices included updating the existing database, design a new database system or use an existing one. We decided to go with the last option. An evaluation of different databases suggested that GRIN-Global was the best solution. There are several benefits with using GRIN-Global, for example it is robust and already used by 12 genebanks around the world. The code is open source and there is a growing international GRIN-Global community. For the internal users at the genebanks, there are improved functions such as bulk upload and editing. An advantage for the external users will be that material from all genebanks can be browsed and ordered from the same location.