Biobanks—A Platform for Scientific and Biomedical Research

Abstract

The development of biomedical science requires the creation of biological material collections that allow for the search and discovery of biomarkers for pathological conditions, the identification of new therapeutic targets, and the validation of these findings in samples from patients and healthy people. Over the past decades, the importance and need for biobanks have increased considerably. Large national and international biorepositories have replaced small collections of biological samples. The aim of this work is to provide a basic understanding of biobanks and an overview of how biobanks have become essential structures in modern biomedical research.

Public-Private Partnerships: Compound and Data Sharing in Drug Discovery and Development

“…Large repositories of well-annotated biological specimens are often referred to as "biobanks" and can be heterogenous in terms of their design and uses. [51][52][53] Although several bottlenecks exist for establishing PPPs in biobanking, 53,54 their beneficial impact on the sustainability of biobanks has been considered. 53,55 Currently, there are three leading international entities governing biobanking: the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), the Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure-European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC), and the European, Middle Eastern and African Society for Biobanking (ESBB).…”

“…53,55 Currently, there are three leading international entities governing biobanking: the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), the Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure-European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC), and the European, Middle Eastern and African Society for Biobanking (ESBB). 51 The pan-European BBMRI-ERIC constitutes a research infrastructure for biobanking and brings together all the main players in this field. 56 BBMRI-ERIC has also developed the concept of Expert Center as a PPP to serve as a key intermediary between public and private sectors engaged in the analysis of biological samples under internationally standardized conditions.…”

The Urgent Need for Management of Biological Samples and Data Accessibility in Latin America

“…Biobanks can hold genetic data for a significant percentage of an entire population ( Malsagova et al, 2020 ). In Estonia, e.g., genetic information on about 5% of the adult population can be found in a DNA bank ( Reisberg et al, 2019 ).…”

Preferences for Updates on General Research Results: A Survey of Participants in Genomic Research from Two Institutions

“…Recruiting and retaining participants for biobanks and observational studies are well-known challenges for biomedical research [ 1 , 2 ]. Population biobanks are essential structures to store and manage biological samples and information that can be used for research [ 3 , 4 ]. With the willingness to participate in biobanks correlated to opportunities to be updated about the biobanks [ 5 ], soliciting preferences will be key to maintaining successful and patient-centered population biobanks.…”