Biobanking 101: What is a Biobank and Why Are They Important for Healthcare?

Did you know that biobanks are perhaps one of the most critical parts of the health industry? Biobanking is the future of superior healthcare and definitive answers to scientific questions. However, you may not know much about what biobanking actually is and how it contributes to health services.

In this article, we describe what a biobank is and why these facilities are so important. We also use this article to answer common questions regarding biobanking! Let’s start with the definition of a biobank.

What is a Biobank?

A biobank, or biorepository, is a facility that collects and stores biological samples for research purposes. Biobanks often carry the following types of human samples:

Blood
Human Tissue
Tumor Cells
Saliva
Urine
DNA

Biobanks can also generate significant data on every sample (e.g., family history, genetic information, health records, etc.) to enhance the analysis process. While biobanks primarily carry human biospecimens, these facilities can also hold various animal biological samples. A biorepository is like a safety deposit at a bank—it keeps valuable samples safe until they’re needed. Biobanks provide scientists, researchers, laboratories, and pharmaceutical developers with samples that are vital for the following areas of study: oncology, hematology, immunology, spatial biology, and more. Biorepositories are a necessary addition to the healthcare industry and aid researchers in making groundbreaking discoveries.

Why Is Biobanking Important?

Without biobanks, researchers wouldn’t be able to perform transformative studies that improve human health. Biobanking allows the scientific industry to answer challenging research questions. Not only that, but biorepositories expand our understanding of the human body when it comes to health and disease; stored samples contribute to discovering new and improved ways to treat a vast variety of medical conditions. It’s a well-known fact that health research can take years to complete and an expansive number of people donate their samples and data to get impactful results. However, what if we told you that biobanks can drastically cut down the time and effort it takes to perform research? Biorepositories immediately speed up scientific studies by having samples and additional data available upon researchers’ requests.

For decades, biospecimen research has resulted in new tests for diagnosing diseases, the development of more effective treatments, and increased quality of life for individuals experiencing chronic illness. There is still so much to be discovered within the health industry, and biobanks play a foundational part in contributing to the discovery of life-altering answers and the improvement of healthcare overall for years to come.

3 FAQs About Biobanking

Here are 3 FAQs we regularly hear about biobanking:

How Do Biobanks Secure Samples?

Biobanks collect biospecimens through various methods. Samples of blood, saliva, or tissue can be left over following lab tests, surgeries, and other health appointments. With consent from the patient to donate, these samples can then be sent to a biobank. For example, if a patient sees a doctor and a blood or tissue specimen is taken, part of that sample can be set aside for a biobank. Donating samples to a biobank is 100% voluntary, and people who participate are asked to sign a consent form upon contribution. Biobanking is also fully confidential, and donors’ personal information will stay private throughout the entire process.

Who Can Donate to a Biobank?

Biobanking is an impactful way to further healthcare research. The great news is that biobanks collect samples from just about anyone! In fact, the more diversified the samples are, the more impactful the biobank is. Biobanks must carry a plethora of specimens from numerous types of donors to promote the advancement of the medical field. Samples within a biobank can carry diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and other rare illnesses. On the other hand, biorepositories also hold samples from donors who are fully healthy without a trace of sickness. Many biobanks collect malignant, normal, and disease-state samples from the same donor to enable controlled testing and comparative research.

Where Can I Order Samples From a Biobank?

Researchers commonly order biosamples online. Numerous hospitals, research centers, and scientific organizations create biobanks to help progress the health industry. When searching for a biobank, you’ll want to make sure to find one that follows strict quality control guidelines and only collects the highest quality biospecimens. The biobank you should order from also depends on what you’re looking for whether that’s FFPE human tissue or DNA samples. If want to partner with a trusted international biorepository, you’ll want to check out our online biobank!

Invest in High-Quality Tissue Samples From an International Biobank

Do you need various types of human tissue samples for your analysis and testing? Superior BioDiagnostics is here to help. We’ve got thousands of normal, malignant, and disease-state tissue specimens stocked at our facility. From the get-go, we follow stringent quality control guidelines and ensure the collected samples are kept in pristine condition. Superior BioDiagnostics specializes in FFPE human tissue samples from the following anatomic sites: breast, cervical, lung, muscle, uterus, and more.

Whatever it is you need, we’ve got it at our biobank. With every order, we can include data on the sample’s tumor type (if applicable), TNM stage, histological grades, and donor demographics. Contact Superior BioDiagnostics to order your tissue samples and enjoy next-day shipping!