Biobank

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A biobank is a collection of substances, such as body fluids or tissue samples, with associated data managed in databases . These data are divided into sample collection data (name, gender, age ...) and analysis data. Large amounts of biological material such as DNA , blood or tissue samples are stored in biobanks together with background information (e.g. medical history or living conditions or species identification, collection location, etc.) of the donor or organisms. In the human / medical field, a distinction is made between population-based and disease-specific biobanks. The former are used for mostly large-scale population studies and samples are usually collected from healthy individuals. The second are biobanks typical of hospitals, where samples from sick people are collected for diagnosis, therapy and research. In this way, they allow a meaningful comparison of different individuals with regard to their genetic material, their various diseases, their disease processes and, for example, the influence of environmental factors . On this basis, they enable disease-related genome research that provides new knowledge about the development and course of diseases and can lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches or more effective methods of prevention .

The defining characteristic of most biobanks is that they are intended to serve as research infrastructures for future, changing research projects, the research purposes of which are still largely indefinite at the time the biobank is put together. Biobanks that store their samples at a temperature below –140 ° C are called cryobanks .

Privacy, Donors Rights and Ethics

In the absence of clear laws and established practice, the donors must be informed about the intended use of the sample in a specially designed "informed consent" and asked for their consent to the intended use of the sample. In Germany, the National Ethics Council , headed by Spiros Simitis, issued a statement on the subject of “Biobanks for Research”. The Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, headed by Volker Dittmann, issued the guideline entitled “Biobanks: Obtaining, storing and using human biological material for education and research”. These two sets of rules are examples of so-called soft laws, i.e. standards that are not mandatory. In Switzerland, however, the SAMS guidelines are expected to have a high degree of validity until the Human Research Act comes into force in 2010 due to the high reputation of the SAMS. In Austria, the Bioethics Commission at the Federal Chancellery has published a report and recommendations on biobanks.

The techniques of anonymization and pseudonymization are essential when dealing with biobanks, because the information that is processed is usually of a so-called highly personal nature. This means that they contain sensitive data about the donor, for example information about illnesses, habits, sexual preferences, etc. Another, however, controversial right of the donor is consent. In the English-language conventions on human research (for example by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) , see literature), the term "informed consent", which has meanwhile also been used in German-speaking countries, is used for this. This means that the consent to the further use of biological material can only be valid if the donor has been informed in advance about the risks and benefits of the research project.

Examples of biobanks

In Germany there are a large number of biobanks, most of which are located at the medical universities, especially those that work together in the “National Genome Research Network”. But there are also biobanks that operate commercially, such as the "Indivumed" database ( Indivumed GmbH ) in Hamburg, which is used to develop individualized cancer therapies. According to Volker Dittmann in an interview with two students in November 2005, there are several hundred biobanks in Switzerland. Famous examples of European biobanks are that of the company "Iceland Genomics" in Iceland or the large "UK Biobank" in Great Britain. The aim of the biobank in Iceland is to collect all genetic data from the entire population. The currently largest biobank with public access in Europe is located in Graz at the Medical University with around 4.5 million samples.

Biobanks are increasingly understood as research infrastructures. The BBMRI-ERIC was set up for Europe, which aims to facilitate access to national biobanks and biobank networks.

In addition to biobanks for collecting samples of human origin, there are various biobanks for collecting plant, microbial and animal material. An example of this is the International Moss Stock Center , a collection of different mutants, transgenic strains and ecotypes of the deciduous moss Physcomitrella patens and other mosses . Another example is the partner institutes of the "DNA Bank Network" founded in Germany: this is a ring of biobanks mainly at research museums and botanical gardens, which have set themselves the goal of archiving DNA samples (and sometimes tissue samples) from wild organisms.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b BKA on May 9, 2007: Biobanks for medical research. ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on December 14, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bka.gv.at
  2. ^ Biobank of the Medical University of Graz
  3. ↑ ESFRI research infrastructure roadmap
  4. ^ DNA Bank Network