Precision medicine: Driving the evolution of biobanking quality

Healthc Manage Forum. 2020 May;33(3):102-106. doi: 10.1177/0840470419898874. Epub 2020 Jan 20.

Abstract

The promise of precision medicine will only be realized if the healthcare system adapts to meet some key infrastructure needs. Among these needs are adequate biobanking practices, capable of producing the biological samples and data that precision medicine relies upon in both the research and clinical phases. Within the research domain, there have been significant improvements to biobanking processes over the past two decades, driven by increased understanding of the impact of pre-analytical variability and the critical role of biospecimen and data quality. In the era of precision medicine, biobanking to support clinical needs has similar quality requirements. The extensive knowledge and resources that have been developed by the research biobanking community are available for adoption by clinical biobanking. The challenge and opportunity now presented to the healthcare system is to adopt or adapt these resources, for example, external biobanking standards and verification programs.

MeSH terms

  • Biological Specimen Banks / standards*
  • Biomedical Research
  • Humans
  • Precision Medicine*