Coleções vivas: as coleções microbiológicas da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz

Abstract

This article discusses the microbiological collections of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, many of them formed in the beginning of the 1920´s. In Brazil, the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation later) was one of the first institutions to form living collections of microbiological material. Biological collections were part of the institutional policy already dedicated to fighting parasitic and infectious diseases caused by bacteria and protozoa and transmitted by insects, molluscs, and other vectors. Today, the Institution holds 17 Microbiological collections representing the genetic diversity of bacteria, archaea, protozoa, medical and environmental fungi, epidemiological memory and record of variations in etiological agents over time; and genetic populations related to organisms for research in public health. These collections also represent the production capability of new inputs of biotechnological interest.