BGI Group, together with the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other institutions, has led the development of a pioneering international standard for deep-sea biological materials.

ISO 20309:2025 Biotechnology — Biobanking — Requirements for deep-sea biological material has been officially released by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has officially released ISO 20309:2025 Biotechnology — Biobanking — Requirements for deep-sea biological material, the first global standard focused specifically on the preservation and management of deep-sea biological samples. The standard provides a unified, globally applicable framework for how deep-sea specimens should be collected, processed, stored, and managed to support long-term, high-quality scientific research.

Alongside the ISO standard, the project team has also developed the Chinese national standard GB/T 46753-2025 Requirements for collection, processing and preservation of deep-sea biological samples, which was officially released on December 2, 2025, by the Standardization Administration of China.

The publication of ISO 20309:2025 is the result of a three-year effort in research, validation, and international standardization work. Since the proposal was submitted to ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 276 (Biotechnology) in December 2022, the project team have worked to address key challenges in the handling and preservation of deep-sea biological samples.

The document covers the full lifecycle of deep-sea biological material, including collection, on-site and laboratory processing, transportation, storage, documentation, and quality management. By defining clear technical and management requirements, ISO 20309:2025 fills a long-standing gap in the international standardization landscape. It provides a common scientific and operational basis for research cruises, laboratories, and biobanks worldwide, and is designed to reduce variability in sample quality and improve reproducibility and comparability across deep-sea studies.

BGI Group has been actively engaged in deep-sea research since 2018, integrating multi-omics technologies with marine and deep-sea exploration. Converting this practical experience and technical capability into both international and national standards marks an important milestone in the development of standardized deep-sea biobanking practices. The new standards are expected to support more systematic sample collection and preservation, enable higher-quality datasets, and facilitate long-term, collaborative research on deep-sea ecosystems and their potential applications.