Quality and Sustainability of the Samples
What Characterises a Sustainable Biobank?
Sustainability depends on a strategy for collection and use, good partners, enough resources and willingness to invest and that the biobank has a lot of activity. In short, a sustainable biobank can be characterised by samples collected in the biobank:
- To a large extent used in research projects
- Has volume suitable for conducting research using modern methods and equipment
- Possesses the best possible quality in order to obtain high-quality research results
- Meet different stakeholder needs for sample types
- Connected to registers that allow the data derived from the samples to be reused
What Makes a Biobank Sustainable?
The quality of the samples is a matter of course for good research results. An ISO standard has also been introduced for biobanks, ISO 20387: 2018. The purpose of such a standard is to specify general requirements for expertise and organization of biobanking activities to ensure the quality of material suited to the purpose.
- What conditions can affect the quality of the samples?
- Preanalytical
- Analytical
- Post analytical
Since biobank samples are often stored for a long period of time, both before and after they are analysed, quality control is an important factor in ensuring that the samples have the necessary quality. It is also important to have procedures (SOPs) for processing sample material. For more information and an example of a procedure book, we recommend looking to NoPSC biobank, which is a state-of-the-art biobank at OUS.
Operational efficiency and financial feasibility are the pillars of a biobank's activity and sustainability, not to forget participants' confidence in participating. Participants who have given their consent for research expect the samples to be used for research. A biobank that only stores samples, but which has little or no feasibility or activity in the use of collected samples, is basically worth little. Such a biobank only consumes resources and can be said to have broken the confidence of the participants. Sustainability is therefore more than resources, quality and quantity - it is also based on the trust and acceptance of the participants.
One way to measure the sustainability of a biobank is with a so-called BRIF - Biobank Resource Impact Factor, which says something about a biobank being used in terms of both quantity and quality. The purpose of such a factor is to increase the availability of biobank material, and should be an incentive for sharing such resources.
Biobank Norway is a national infrastructure for biobanks. They collaborate with BBMRI-ERIC, which is a European biobanking research infrastructure dedicated to making biobank resources available for sharing in addition to share expertise, experience, materials and methods.
Under the auspices of Biobank Norway, biobank enthusiasts from all regional health authorities and universities in Norway have also jointly prepared Best Practices for Norwegian Biobanks.