Kew opens digital collections while old fungi yield their DNA

Millions of specimens available remotely

On 16 June 2026, Kew announced its State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2026 report, focused on the digital transformation of biodiversity research. The institution also reported completing the digitisation of 7.4 million herbarium and fungarium specimens. That is a combined plant-and-fungus figure, not a count of fungi alone. Access to images and records helps researchers work with collections without travelling to examine every item in person. Kew’s announcement.

A digital specimen is not a complete biological copy. An image records the preserved material, while its label documents a collecting history. Sequencing addresses different questions by making DNA regions or whole genomes available for comparison. These layers should be kept distinct. Scanning a specimen packet does not automatically mean that its fungus has had its genome sequenced.

Why an old specimen remains useful

Part of the genomic foundation for this story comes from a 2025 study by Torda Varga and colleagues. The team extracted DNA from 2,104 specimens collected between 1770 and 2023. Specimen age had a smaller effect on DNA yield than methodological choices and taxonomic identity. This does not mean that every two-hundred-year-old specimen is equally suitable for every analysis.

The researchers obtained DNA barcodes from 771 specimens and selected a subset for whole-genome sequencing. They then compared multiple computational approaches for assembling the sequence reads. No single approach performed best for every sample. Good results required matching the workflow to the characteristics of the sequencing library and the specimen itself.

This distinction matters because genome quality does not depend only on how much material enters a sequencing instrument. DNA extraction, the condition of the fragments and subsequent analysis all contribute. The authors demonstrated that high-quality genome assemblies can be obtained from specimens more than a century old. A historical collection therefore remains an active research resource long after its preserved fungi have ceased to be living organisms.

The label connects genes to a place

A fungarium’s value extends beyond DNA. The physical specimen lets researchers return to the characteristics on which an identification was based. Its label connects it with a collecting date and locality, and its accession number makes the material traceable. Without those links, a sequence loses part of the context needed for taxonomic and geographical comparisons.

For readers exploring digital collections, a useful starting point is to ask what a record actually contains: a photograph, descriptive notes, a locality, an identification, or a link to genetic data. A missing sequence does not make a specimen worthless. Conversely, obtaining DNA does not resolve every historical uncertainty about a locality or an original identification. Those questions require their own evidence.

The June announcement updates access to scientific infrastructure; it does not declare fungal diversity fully documented. Collections are becoming easier to compare, while reliable interpretation still depends on the individual specimen, its history and the methods applied to it. This is also why careful field notes can retain value for decades: future researchers may ask questions that the original collector could not yet investigate.