Onkológia 6/2016

Biobanking – an intergal part of modern biomedical research

Biobanking represents a sophisticated, highly organized system of programmed and long-term storage of biological material with relevant supporting clinical-pathological, epidemiological and bio-molecular information. These devices are a key resource for genomic, proteomic and metabolomic oriented research; therefore they became an institution able to obtain information about biomarkers of diseases and led to the development of personalized medicine. The authors present the overview of standardized biobanking function, with emphasis on the ethical and legal aspects, harmonization, quality performance and financing. The authors also point out the need for the creation and development of biobanking in Slovakia and participation in international biobanking infrastructure inside the panEuropean group BBMRI-ERIC. Nowadays, the biobanking is the essential tool for research, but in the future it may become a requirement for medical practice, so that we should have been ready for it.

Keywords: tissue, tumour, biobanking, biomedical research, personalized medicine