CONFERENCEHistory of Microbial Strain Collection of Latvia
The University of Microbial Strain Collection of Latvia (MSCL) was established in 1993. It operates in accordance with the order No. 371 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia dated September 11, 1996.
In 1996, MSCL became a member of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC), and in 1997 – a member of the European Culture Collections’ Organization (ECCO).
On May 31, 1997, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) granted the Microbial Strain Collection of Latvia the status of an International Depositary Authority (IDA) for the deposit of microorganisms, under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, which was ratified by the Republic of Latvia in 1994. This status confers the right and obligation to confidentially store patentable microorganisms.
On July 12–13, 2000, MSCL participated in the WIPO subregional seminar held in Riga, titled “The Budapest Treaty and the Protection of Biotechnological Inventions” (WIPO Subregional Seminar for the Promotion of Implementation of the Budapest Treaty, WIPO/BP/RIG/00).
From 2002 to 2004, MSCL, together with 14 other European microbial culture collections, participated in the EU 5th Framework Programme project “European Biological Resource Centers Network” (EBRCN).
In 2004, MSCL was registered in the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM) under the number 854.
On May 25–28, 2005, the MSCL organized the ECCO XXIV Conference in Riga, titled “European Culture Collections: Resources for Biology and Biotechnology”.
In 2010, MSCL representative Daina Eze was elected President of ECCO and served in this position until 2013.
From 2020 to 2023, MSCL was involved in the project “Implementation and Sustainability of Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure for the 21st Century, IS_MIRRI21”.
As the sole representative from Latvia, MSCL joined the European Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure Consortium MIRRI-ERIC in 2022. Latvia was one of the five founding countries of MIRRI-ERIC. A MIRRI-ERIC national node has been established in Latvia, with MSCL acting as the coordinator. In 2024, the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” joined the national node.
As part of a meeting organized by the MIRRI-ERIC Latvian national node, experts in microbial resource infrastructure from eight European countries visited the University of Latvia Faculty of Medicine and Life sciences on June 4–6, 2025.
