A biological specimen (also called a biospecimen) is a

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

laboratory specimen Need In medicine, a laboratory specimen is a biological specimen of a medical patient's tissue, fluids, or other material used for laboratory analysis to assist in differential diagnosis or staging of a disease process. For example, to detect bre ...

held by a

biorepository A biorepository is a facility that collects, catalogs, and stores samples of biological material for laboratory research. Biorepositories collect and manage specimens from animals, plants, and other living organisms. Biorepositories store many di ...

for research. Such a specimen would be taken by sampling so as to be representative of any other specimen taken from the source of the specimen. When biological specimens are stored, ideally they remain equivalent to freshly-collected specimens for the purposes of research. Human biological specimens are stored in a type of biorepository called a

biobank A biobank is a type of biorepository that stores biological samples (usually human) for use in research. Biobanks have become an important resource in medical research, supporting many types of contemporary research like genomics and personalize ...

, and the science of preserving biological specimens is most active in the field of biobanking.

Quality control

Setting broad standards for quality of biological specimens was initially an underdeveloped aspect of biobank growth. There is currently discussion on what standards should be in place and who should manage those standards. Since many organizations set their own standards and since biobanks are necessarily used by multiple organizations and typically are driven towards expansion, the harmonization of

standard operating procedures A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing misc ...

for lab practices are a high priority. The procedures have to be evidence-based and will change with time as new research and technology becomes available.

Policy makers

Some progress for the creation of policy-making organizations include the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

's 2005 creation of the Office of Biobanking and Biospecimen Research (OBBR) and the annual Biospecimen Research Network Symposia. The

International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is a professional society of individuals and organizations involved in biospecimen banking. Its main activities include creating educational and training opportunities ...

, International Agency for Research on Cancer,

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

, and the Australasian Biospecimen Network have also proposed policies and standards. In 2008

AFNOR Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR, English: French Standardization Association) is a Paris-based standards organization and a member body for France at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The AFNOR Group develop ...

, a French standardization organization, published the first biobank-specific quality standard. Aspects of

ISO 9000 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 90 ...

have been applied to biobanks.

Quality goals

Quality criteria for specimens depends on the study being considered and there is not a universal standard specimen type. DNA integrity is an important factor for studies which involve whole genome amplification. RNA integrity is critical for some studies and can be assessed by

gel electrophoresis Gel electrophoresis is a method for separation and analysis of biomacromolecules ( DNA, RNA, proteins, etc.) and their fragments, based on their size and charge. It is used in clinical chemistry to separate proteins by charge or size (IEF ...

. Also biobanks, which do specimen storage, cannot take full responsibility for specimen integrity, because before they take custody of samples someone must collect and process them and effects such as RNA degradation are more likely to occur from delayed sample processing than inadequate storage.

Samples stored

Biorepositories store various types of specimens. Different specimens are useful for different purposes.

Storage techniques

Many specimens in biobanks are

cryopreserved Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where organisms, organelles, cells, tissues, extracellular matrix, organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated chemical kinetics are preserved by co ...

. Other specimens are stored in other ways.

Techniques associated with biobanks

Some of the laboratory techniques associated with biological specimen storage include phenol-chloroform extraction, PCR, and RFLP.

References

External links

Biospecimen research database
a curated collection of articles about biospecimens
Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen ResearchSpecimen Central biorepository list
A worldwide listing of active biobanks and biorepositories
Biospecimen Research Network Symposia
a conference on biobank specimens
Mayo Clinic on biobankingShort Public TV episode on museum Collections

Biospecimen Collection Services
{{Personal genomics Biobanks