Biobank for the study of diseases such as cancer

Biobank is designed to help researchers fight cancer and other diseases

06/21/2013

On Friday, the first Bavarian biobank was opened. The facility will provide scientists and physicians with saliva, blood, urine and tissue samples from anonymous donors in the fight against cancer and other diseases. The biobank should contribute to the development of new diagnostic and treatment options.

Biobank to develop new diagnostic and treatment options
The storage of blood, saliva, urine and tissue samples in the should help to better understand diseases and to develop novel therapies. As the University of Würzburg, which leads the institution together with the University Hospital, tells, for example, it is conceivable that in a few years, a molecule in the blood of a cancer patient will be discovered, indicating the disease early on. In order to test this, it would then be possible to access the stored blood samples of other patients.

Also, the first signs of heart disease are detectable in the blood serum of patients who develop heart failure in the further course. So-called peptide molecules show up in the blood of the affected person, before it makes the serious illness with symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, weakness or water in the legs noticeable.

The samples, which are stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius, are voluntary donations from patients and volunteers of the hospital. They can be used for research purposes for about a quarter of a century. In addition to the samples, the Biobank also anonymously stores personal data that can be used for biomedical research projects. The biobank's frozen storage facility can store a total of 1.2 million bioproducts.
Other national biobanks are located in Berlin, Kiel, Aachen and Heidelberg. (Ag)

Image: Andreas Dengs, www.photofreaks.ws