Why Biobanks Need to Be on Your Radar

Software

If you haven’t heard of biobanking yet, you probably aren’t paying much attention to science. The research being done at these facilities affects all of us, so you definitely should be paying attention! Many recent findings have been carried out via research from biobanks. Read on for some reasons why you should have this industry on your radar in the future!

Biobanks are classified in two ways: by their governing body (federal government, foundation, etc.) or by their purpose/research. Their funding comes from numerous places as well. The largest funding source for 36% these establishments is the federal government, which has also funded some amount of research for 57% of responding biobanks. Other sources include fees for services and funding from individuals or foundations. Most biobanks also have an internal oversight board of some sort.

Biobanking software is becoming more advanced everyday. Software in current biobanks allows researchers access to much larger amounts of data and samples, which leads to more discoveries. 44% of biobanking software stores pediatric specimens, while 36% are postmortem specimens. This allows for many types of research and it gives scientists a wide range of samples to work with. With 53% of biobanks only researching a particular disease, and 29% doing general research, that type of range can lead to huge findings with a smaller possibility for error.

Out of the 700 cancer researchers surveyed in 2011, 47% reported that they had trouble finding quality biobanking samples. However, new freezer inventory software, environmental research, and freezer software has made this easier for scientists in recent years. In U.S. biobanks alone, there were more than 300 million tissue samples at the turn of the century. Since then, that number increases by 20 million each year.

17% of current biobanks have been in business for over 20 years or more, while two-thirds were established within the next decade. These businesses are of vital importance in the coming years. An estimated 1,658,370 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2015. In 2014, there were 14.5 million people with a history of cancer alive. With more research done at biobanking, we can help all of those people!

So where do you stand on biobanking? Do you stand behind their research or will you look more into it to form an opinion? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

About: Ed