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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biobank | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biobank | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:17:40.328244+00:00 | kb-cron |
In November 2020 scientists began collecting living fragments, tissue and DNA samples of the endangered corals from the Great Barrier Reef for a precautionary biobank for potential future restoration and rehabilitation activities. A few months earlier another Australian team of researchers reported that they evolved such corals to be more heat-resistant.
== Biological specimens ==
The specimens stored by a biobank and made available to researchers are taken by sampling. Specimen types include blood, urine, skin cells, organ tissue, and other materials. Increasingly, methods for sampling tissue specimens are becoming more targeted, sometimes involving the use of MRI to determine which specific areas of tissue should be sampled. The biobank keeps these specimens in good condition until a researcher needs them to conduct a test, do an experiment, or perform an analysis.
=== Storage === Biobanks, like other DNA databases, must carefully store and document access to samples and donor information. The samples must be maintained reliably with minimal deterioration over time, and they must be protected from physical damage, both accidental and intentional. The registration of each sample entering and exiting the system is centrally stored, usually on a computer-based system that can be backed up frequently. The physical location of each sample is noted to allow the rapid location of specimens. Archival systems de-identify samples to respect the privacy of donors and allow blinding of researchers to analysis. The database, including clinical data, is kept separately with a secure method to link clinical information to tissue samples. Room temperature storage of samples is sometimes used, and was developed in response to perceived disadvantages of low-temperature storage, such as costs and potential for freezer failure. Current systems are small and are capable of storing nearly 40,000 samples in about one tenth of the space required by a −80 °C (−112 °F) freezer. Replicates or split samples are often stored in separate locations for security.
=== Ownership === One controversy of large databases of genetic material is the question of ownership of samples. As of 2007, Iceland had three different laws on ownership of the physical samples and the information they contain. Icelandic law holds that the Icelandic government has custodial rights of the physical samples themselves while the donors retain ownership rights. In contrast, Tonga and Estonia give ownership of biobank samples to the government, but their laws include strong protections of donor rights.
== Ethics ==
The key event which arises in biobanking is when a researcher wants to collect a human specimen for research. When this happens, some issues which arise include the following: right to privacy for research participants, ownership of the specimen and its derived data, the extent to which the donor can share in the return of the research results, and the extent to which a donor is able to consent to be in a research study. With respect to consent, the main issue is that biobanks usually collect samples and data for multiple future research purposes and it is not feasible to obtain specific consent for all possible future research. It has been discussed that one-off consent or a broad consent for various research purposes may not suffice ethical and legal requirements. Dynamic consent is an approach to consent that may be better suited to biobanking, because it enables ongoing engagement and communication between the researchers and sample/data donors over time.
== Governance ==
There is no internationally accepted set of governance guidelines that are designed to work with biobanks. Biobanks typically try to adapt to the broader recommendations that are internationally accepted for human subject research and change guidelines as they become updated. For many types of research and particularly medical research, oversight comes at the local level from an institutional review board. Institutional review boards typically enforce standards set by their country's government. To different extents, the law used by different countries is often modeled on biobank governance recommendations that have been internationally proposed.
=== Key organizations === Some examples of organizations that participated in creating written biobanking guidelines are the following: World Medical Association, Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences, Council of Europe, Human Genome Organisation, World Health Organization, and UNESCO. The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is a global biobanking organization which creates opportunities for networking, education, and innovations and harmonizes approaches to evolving challenges in biological and environmental repositories. ISBER connects repositories globally through best practices. The ISBER Best Practices, Fourth Edition was launched on January 31, 2018 with a LN2 addendum that was launched early May 2019.
=== History === In 1998, the Icelandic Parliament passed the Act on Health Sector Database. This act allowed for the creation of a national biobank in that country. In 1999, the United States National Bioethics Advisory Commission issued a report containing policy recommendations about handling human biological specimens. In 2005, the United States National Cancer Institute founded the Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research so that it could have a division to establish a common database and standard operating procedures for its partner organizations with biospecimen collections. In 2006, the Council of the European Union adopted a policy on human biological specimens, which was novel for discussing issues unique to biobanks.