Biobanking in a fast moving world: an international perspective

Abstract

Diseases including the main chronic "killer" diseases have a global dimension and so has biobanking, the main cornerstone for biomarker discovery, validation and implementation in prevention, diagnosis, or therapy. Interconnecting biobanks associated with cohort studies or collections of diseased tissues raises many issues in terms of ethics, governance, regulations, technical standardization, quality control, and sharing of specimens and data. In this perspective article, we briefly address the importance of international networks of biobanks, identify the main challenges, and discuss different models of such networks, balancing the needs for centralization of specimens and resources with the reality of delocalized collection activities, in particular in a clinical context.