Letter to the editor: ISBER Two Decades and Beyond: Honoring Our Past, Celebrating the Present, and Envisioning Our Future (original) (raw)
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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.
Comparing guidelines on biobanks: emerging consensus and unresolved controversies
Geneva: Ruig-Gian, 2005
In this paper, we present a comparative analysis (conducted in 2004-2005) of twenty seven policies on biobanks. The paper is structured around the three separate stages of the biobanking process (collection, storage and use of both human biological samples and data) and for each stage, we then focus on salient issues that have been debated by scholars and have been addressed by the drafters of the policies we compare. Although consensus exists on few issues and solutions, our conclusion is that existing policies do ...
Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy, 2007
Biobanking is an emerging specialty in which competencies in cellular and molecular biology, medicine, genetics, cryobiology, bioengineering, information technology and ethics merge into a service aimed at the regular collection, characterization, long-term storage and distribution -mostly at subzero temperatures -of a large set of biological materials. Among the possible different modalities to organize biobanking activities, the operational setting and typical infrastructures of blood centers and clinical pathology laboratories seem to offer significant advantages as compared to other frameworks, with regard to sample traceability, staff qualification, largevolume operation, networking capability. In view of a broader use of biological materials and the expansion of biobanking research, efforts should be developed to harmonize local, regional, national and international regulations, guidelines, norms and laws on biobanking, and to increase the population awareness of the importance of participating in biobanking programs. We propose that the model of the 'Biological Resource Centre' described by the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is used as a structural and operational reference for the consolidation of multispeciality biobanking programs.
Whether or not to give research results back to individuals whose specimens are used for biomedical research is a subject of considerable controversy. Much of the debate has been focused around the ethical and legal concerns with some consideration of broader social issues such as whether or not people will be affected by such information for employment or health care. Much less attention has been paid to biobanks that collect the specimens used to generate the research findings and the issues and operational requirements for implementing return of individual research results. In this article, we give the biobanks' perspective and highlight that given the diversity among the types of biobanks, it may be difficult to design and implement a blanket policy in this complex area.