[Development of Biobank Network in Japan]

Abstract

Biobanks are biorepositories that collect and store biospecimens. Biobanks obtain the consent of the donor for the use of the biospecimens in a wide range of research with trust, and provide them for medical research after review of the research plan. In recent years, the importance of biobanks has increased dramatically as countries compete fiercely in research to realize genomic medicine. This is because genomic medicine is a personalized health care stratified by the patient's constitution, that is, genomic information, and its research and development requires large-scale biospecimens from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of people, genomic and omics data obtained from the analysis, and medical data. Biobanks and their networks are being established abroad and in Japan, and this paper will start with an overview of biobanks and introduce the establishment of biobank networks in Japan.