Biobanking is Vital for Future Global Health Research and Development

“A biobank is just like a library; but instead of books it is full of biological material,” explains Erik Steinfelder, Biobank Market Development Manager for Thermo Fisher Scientific and former President of the European Biobank Society. “As a network, biobanks are essentially a massive collection of materials for sharing and collaboration within the scientific community.”

The biological material stored in biobanks consists of samples that significantly represent global health data.  They form a uniquely powerful biomedical database that can be accessed for public health research, according to the UK Biobank website.

Erik Steinfelder understands the nuts and bolts that go into setting up a biobank from scratch, as well as the significance of the practice within the scientific community. He notes that in recent years, biobanking has become a critical field for the development of vaccines and understanding the origins of COVID-19.

“Over the last 18 months, the biobanking community has been instrumental in the COVID-19 response strategy,” says Erik. “All the research that has been done toward developing treatments and vaccines began with material samples supplied by biobanks.”

Biobanking is a relatively new field, emerging in the last 20-30 years. Still, there are few experts out there.

“Nobody has a PhD in biobanking, so over the last 20-30 years it has evolved largely through trial and error” says Erik. He adds that in its nascency, biobanking had a broad margin for error and the reliability of the results from samples was often put in question.

Biobanking began with a relatively grass-roots approach. Researchers began collecting and storing sample materials and developing their own methods as they amassed their respective inventories.

“It was like the Wild West,” says Erik. “People were collecting, labelling, and categorising samples however they saw fit.”

Over time, people within the community traded tips and best practices for biobanking and workflows became more standardised. Slowly but gradually, people began to see the way forward for a more standardised approach.

Today, many countries in the world are still establishing regulatory standards for their biobanks. In Australia, the Australasian Biospecimen Network Association (ABNA) was established in 2001, and they have since come to determine the national standards for managing a biobank effectively.

The biobanking segment at Thermo Fisher Scientific aims to assist customers in better aligning with national standards as governments take an interest in funding specialised research projects into the immune response and long-term effects of COVID-19 vaccines, according to Erik. 

“If you want to understand a certain disease, you need physical material to run testing on,” highlights Erik. “For researchers in the public health space, the question becomes how do we get that material? At the same time, for biobanks, the question is: how do we make sure the ethical and legal rules are in place and the patient’s rights are respected?”

All these ideas bundled together form the foundation of a biobank, often found at universities and hospitals and serving as a shared library of materials for the entire organisation.

When asked about what considerations should be made in setting up a biobank, Erik details the process.

“From a Thermo Fisher Scientific lens, it is really about the quality of the sample by way of proper storage,” he says.

“First, we assess the volume of samples, and then we determine the type of storage. We will advise how to store samples and how best to maintain the quality of the sample over time.”

When starting a biobank from scratch, Thermo Fisher can assist with the design of the entire workflow arrangement, from storage tubes to freezers and analytics software.

“We assist with set up of monitoring systems, and help customers understand how to identify changes in temperature or climate conditions surrounding their samples,” says Erik.

“With a vast range of consumables available at Thermo Fisher, we really have the ability to bring the bits and pieces together so you can run a biobank in as streamlined a manner as possible.”

Looking toward the future of biobanking, Thermo Fisher’s biobanking segment aims to assist with the current health crisis, by connecting domestic biobanks with other biobanks around the globe.

“Globally, governments are interested in disease prevention right now,” says Erik. “They are taking steps to prevent disease through biobanks.”

He concludes, “Ultimately the goal is to benefit the patients from our work, and for that to happen, the global biobanking community needs to see as much growth and investment as possible.”

For more information on Thermo Fisher Scientific’s range of biobanking equipment and consumables visit our learning centre or request a quotation.

Back to biobanking blog ›