Leveraging natural history biorepositories as a global, decentralized, pathogen surveillance network.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic reveals a major gap in global biosecurity infrastructure: a lack of publicly available biological samples representative across space, time, and taxonomic diversity. The shortfall, in this case for vertebrates, prevents accurate and rapid identification and monitoring of emerging pathogens and their reservoir host(s) and precludes extended investigation of ecological, evolutionary, and environmental associations that lead to human infection or spillover. Natural history museum biorepositories form the backbone of a critically needed, decentralized, global network for zoonotic pathogen surveillance, yet this infrastructure remains marginally developed, underutilized, underfunded, and disconnected from public health initiatives. Proactive detection and mitigation for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) requires expanded biodiversity infrastructure and training (particularly in biodiverse and lower income countries) and new communication pipelines that connect biorepositories and biomedical communities. To this end, we highlight a novel adaptation of Project ECHO's virtual community of practice model: Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas (MEPA). MEPA is a virtual network aimed at fostering communication, coordination, and collaborative problem-solving among pathogen researchers, public health officials, and biorepositories in the Americas. MEPA now acts as a model of effective international, interdisciplinary collaboration that can and should be replicated in other biodiversity hotspots. We encourage deposition of wildlife specimens and associated data with public biorepositories, regardless of original collection purpose, and urge biorepositories to embrace new specimen sources, types, and uses to maximize strategic growth and utility for EID research. Taxonomically, geographically, and temporally deep biorepository archives serve as the foundation of a proactive and increasingly predictive approach to zoonotic spillover, risk assessment, and threat mitigation.

BBMRI-ERIC's contributions to research and knowledge exchange on COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the European biobanking infrastructure is in a unique position to preserve valuable biological material complemented with detailed data for future research purposes. Biobanks can be either integrated into healthcare, where preservation of the biological material is a fork in clinical routine diagnostics and medical treatment processes or they can also host prospective cohorts or material related to clinical trials. The paper discussed objectives of BBMRI-ERIC, the European research infrastructure established to facilitate access to quality-defined biological materials and data for research purposes, with respect to the COVID-19 crisis: (a) to collect information on available European as well as non-European COVID-19-relevant biobanking resources in BBMRI-ERIC Directory and to facilitate access to these via BBMRI-ERIC Negotiator platform; (b) to help harmonizing guidelines on how data and biological material is to be collected to maximize utility for future research, including large-scale data processing in artificial intelligence, by participating in activities such as COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative; (c) to minimize risks for all involved parties dealing with (potentially) infectious material by developing recommendations and guidelines; (d) to provide a European-wide platform of exchange in relation to ethical, legal, and societal issues (ELSI) specific to the collection of biological material and data during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Introduction into the world of biobanks in human health]. / Les biobanques, des structures essentielles à la recherche médicale.

TITLE: Les biobanques, des structures essentielles à la recherche médicale. ABSTRACT: Le Master Biobanks and Complex Data Management forme les managers des biobanques. Créé en 2017 à l'Université Côte d'Azur par le Professeur Paul Hofman, ce master prépare les étudiants au management des biobanques (humaines, animales, plantes et autres organismes vivants) et des données complexes. Au-delà du stockage des collections d'échantillons biologiques, il faut en assurer la qualité, la conservation, la disponibilité auprès des réseaux de chercheurs en respectant la législation et l'éthique. Les enseignements du master se partagent entre les compétences disciplinaires en qualité, hygiène et sécurité, réglementation, bioéthique, biobankonomics et les enseignements techniques réalisés à la biobanque du CHU de Nice, puis mis en pratique lors de deux stages de 6 mois.

Directrices provisionales de bioseguridad de laboratorio para el manejo y transporte de muestras asociadas al nuevo coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) / Interim laboratory biosecurity guidelines for handling and transporting samples associated with the new coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV)

En enero de 2020, el agente etiológico responsable de un grupo de casos de neumonía grave en Wuhan, China, fue identificado como un nuevo betacoronavirus (2019-nCoV), distinto del SARS-CoV y MERS-CoV (1) (2) (3). La secuencia genómica completa de este nuevo agente está disponible y se han desarrollado diferentes protocolos de detección, aunque aún no se han validado por completo. Sin embargo, a la luz de la posible introducción de un caso sospechoso relacionado con el 2019-nCoV en la Región de las Américas, la Organización Panamericana de la Salud / Organización Mundial de la Salud (OPS / OMS) recomienda a los Estados Miembros garantizar su identificación oportuna, el envío de las muestras a laboratorios Nacionales o de referencia y la implementación del protocolo de detección molecular para 2019-nCoV, según la capacidad del laboratorio.

"Mini" bank of only 8 donors supplies CMV-directed T cells to diverse recipients.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and standard antiviral therapies are associated with significant side effects and development of drug-resistant mutants. Adoptively transferred donor-derived CMV-specific T cells (CMVSTs) can provide an alternative treatment modality with few side effects but are not widely available due to their patient-specific nature. Here we report the establishment and use of a bank of CMVSTs derived from just 8 CMV-seropositive donors, with HLA types representing the diverse US population, as an "off-the-shelf" therapy to treat drug-refractory infections. To date, we have screened 29 patients for study participation and identified a suitable line, with ≥2 of 8 shared HLA antigens, for 28 (96.6%) patients with a median of 4 shared HLA antigens. Of these, 10 patients with persistent/refractory CMV infections or disease were eligible for treatment; a single infusion of cells produced 3 partial responses and 7 complete responses, for a cumulative response rate of 100% (95% confidence interval, 69.2-100) with no graft-versus-host disease, graft failure, or cytokine release syndrome. Potential wider use of the tested CMVSTs across transplant centers is made more feasible by our ability to produce sufficient material to generate cells for >2000 infusions from a single donor collection. Our data indicate that a "mini" bank of CMVSTs prepared from just 8 well-chosen third-party donors can supply the majority of patients with an appropriately matched line that produces safe and effective anti-CMV activity post-HSCT.

Biobanking initiatives to develop a national liver disease biobank facility in India.

AIM: India has a high hepatobiliary disease burden, yet very little research has been done in this field. A major roadblock in the translational research is the unavailability of quality biosamples with standardized clinical annotations. Having a national level biobank facility can circumvent the problem. The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences being a premier liver institute, undertook the initiative to establish the national liver disease biobank. METHODOLOGY: We conducted a survey among the potential users of biobank resources. Furthermore, a detailed proposal of the model for a national level liver disease biobank was submitted to a funding agency. CONCLUSION: Establishment of a national biobank facility for liver disease will be a major step towards revolutionizing liver-related clinical and basic research as well as personalized medicine in India.

Ethics of oocyte banking for third-party assisted reproduction: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The demand for donor oocytes has increased dramatically over the years. Today people in need of ART with the use of donor oocytes can appeal to commercial or public donor oocyte banks. The introduction of oocyte banks has shed a new light on the practice of ART using donor oocytes. The establishment and maintenance of oocyte banks should be sensitive to the ethical considerations. However, it is currently unclear which ethical aspects have to be taken into account. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: The aim of this article is to identify the ethical aspects of establishing and maintaining oocyte banks for third-party ART. SEARCH METHODS: A systematic search was performed in July 2016 and February 2017 in both PubMed and Embase using a search string that combined synonyms for oocytes, donation or banking, reproductive care and ethics. We included a wide variety of English-language articles with a reasoned description of ethical aspects or moral considerations on oocyte donation or banking for third-party ART. OUTCOMES: The practice of oocyte banking consists of three components, namely, the intake, storage and distribution of donor oocytes, and each is associated with multiple ethical challenges. The majority of the literature discusses ethical aspects with regard to the intake of donor oocytes, taking into account both the interests of the donor and those of the potential child. Ethical aspects related to the donor are the risks and psychosocial impact of donation, motivations and compensation in donor recruitment, and requirements for informed consent. Ethical aspects related to the potential child are 2-fold: first, the welfare standard and the selection of donors, and second, anonymity and disclosure. Ethical aspects of storing donor oocytes for ART are quality standards, confidentiality, issues of ownership and control, and international transport of donor oocytes. Ethical aspects of the distribution of donor oocytes concern the selection of recipients and the acceptability of treatment of 'non-traditional' families in particular, prioritization of recipients in case of scarcity, cross-border reproductive care, matching of recipients and donor oocytes, informed consent and counselling for recipients. WIDER IMPLICATIONS: Our review demonstrates that multiple ethical aspects have to be taken into account when establishing and maintaining an oocyte bank. Yet, for many of these aspects there is no consensus regarding what approach should be employed. Remarkably, the existing literature focuses mainly on ethical aspects related to the intake of donor oocytes, while aspects related to storage and distribution of donor oocytes are less often addressed. An important gap in the existing literature should therefore be acknowledged. To conclude, our findings can serve as a starting point for clinicians in the field of ART, to conceptualize what challenges arise when establishing and maintaining oocyte banks for third-party ART. The review may also stimulate policy makers to set up a trustworthy and adaptive governance structure for the intake, storage and distribution of donor oocytes.

Biobanks and scientists: supply and demand.

The biobanks, providers of biospecimens, and the scientists, users of biological material, are both strategic actors in translational medicine but the communication about those two subjects seems to be delicate. Recently, biobank managers from US and Europe stressed the danger of underuse of biospecimens stored in their biobanks thus stimulating the debate about innovative ways to collect samples and to communicate their availability. We hypothesize that the already stored collections meet the interest of present scientists only in specific situations. Serial biospecimens from patients with large associated clinical data concerning voluptuary habits, environmental exposure, anthropomorphic information are needed to meet the even more specific projects the scientists are planning. The hypothesis of activation of specific sections in ranked journals aimed to facilitate the communication between partners interested in finding/collecting ad hoc biospecimens is discussed.

Diabetes-Associated Biobanking: More Topical Than Ever?

The increasing prevalence of diabetes and its accompanying long-term complications, as well as the associated economic burden, calls for a rapid clinical translation of biomedical research to better valid the physiological relevance of the findings from basic research. To meet this condition, the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1118 has established the first nationwide diabetes-specific Biomaterialbank (BMB) that permanently preserves solid and liquid specimen retro- and prospectively at the Institute of Pathology and Department of Endocrinology of the University Hospital Heidelberg. The main purpose of this BMB is to collect, preserve, characterize and provide human diabetic specimen to researchers investigating the role of reactive metabolites (RM) as cause of diabetic late complications. In this review we discuss the urgent need to support translational and clinical research projects by making use of diabetic solid and liquid specimen and provide an insight into the organization and general conditions of biobanking procedures which are pivotal to guaranteeing high-quality human biomaterial. In light of diabetes-tailored biobanking, we describe our newly initiated activities and introduce the diverse technology platforms that can be used for the investigation of promising molecular targets pertinent for diabetes. With this article we demonstrate that the preservation of rare specimen is also particularly relevant in the non-neoplastic field and contributes to basic investigation, promotes comprehensive scientific data and fortifies the sustainability for diabetes research. In addition, the increased understanding of how metabolic imbalance triggers diabetes onset and progression and favors diabetic late symptoms might hold some promise for future innovative diagnostic and/ or therapeutic applications, eventually adding to the improvement of patient care.

Stem Cell Banking and Its Impact on Cardiac Regenerative Medicine.

Cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, are the most frequent cause of death annually, even higher than any other pathologies. Specifically, patients who suffer from myocardial infarction may encounter adverse remodeling processes of the heart that can ultimately lead to heart failure. Prognosis of patients affected by heart failure is very poor with 5-year mortality close to 50 %. Despite the impressive progress in the clinical treatment of heart failure in recent years, heart transplantation is still required to avoid death as the result of the inexorable decline in cardiac function. Unfortunately, the availability of donor human hearts for transplantation largely fails to cover the number of potential recipient requests. From this urgent unmet clinical need the interest in stem cell applications for heart regeneration made its start, and has rapidly grown in the last decades. Indeed, the discovery and application of stem and progenitor cells as therapeutic agents has raised substantial interest with the objective of reversing these processes, and ultimately inducing cardiac regeneration. In this scenario, the role of biobanking may play a remarkable role to provide cells at the right time according to the patient's clinical needs, mostly for autologous use in the acute setting of myocardial infarction, largely reducing the time needed for cell preparation and expansion before administration.

Development and maintenance of a biospecimen repository for clinical samples derived from pulmonary patients.

The Pulmonary Biospecimen Repository (PBR) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was launched in 2009. The purpose of the UAB PBR is to provide investigators within the pulmonary community at UAB and elsewhere with clinical samples derived from multiple lung diseases, including transplant recipients, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, and asthma. Cell and fluid samples isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), plasma, and serum are collected and stored; samples are assessed routinely for viability. Each sample is linked directly with the respective patient information via the Pulmonary Translational Research and Clinical Database, a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant database that includes detailed information allowing for the study of specific patient cohorts. To access samples, investigators must complete a request form, which is reviewed by the UAB PBR Steering Committee. To date, more than 800 patients have provided approximately 7,000 BAL, serum and plasma fluid, and cell samples. Over the past 4 years, nearly 800 of these samples have been distributed to investigators at UAB and elsewhere. Future plans for the UAB PBR include expanding sample collection to additional pulmonary diseases, such as mycobacterial infections, increasing the number of sample users and obtaining external funding to ensure its continued sustainability.

Improving international research with clinical specimens: 5 achievable objectives.

Our increased interest in translational research has created a large demand for blood, tissue, and other clinical samples, which find use in a broad variety of research including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested internationally on the collection, storage, and distribution of samples. Nevertheless, many researchers complain in frustration about their inability to obtain relevant and/or useful samples for their research. Lack of access to samples, poor condition of samples, and unavailability of appropriate control samples have slowed our progress in the study of diseases and biomarkers. In this perspective, I focus on five major challenges that thwart clinical sample use for translational research and propose near term objectives to address them. They include: (1) defining our biobanking needs; (2) increasing the use of and access to standard operating procedures; (3) mapping interobserver differences for use in normalizing diagnoses; (4) identifying natural internal protein controls; and (5) redefining the clinical sample paradigm by building partnerships with the public. In each case, I believe that we have the tools at hand required to achieve the objective within 5 years. Potential paths to achieve these objectives are explored. However we solve these problems, the future of proteomics depends on access to high quality clinical samples, collected under standardized conditions, accurately annotated and shared under conditions that promote the research we need to do.

Human lymphoblastoid cell lines: a goldmine for the biobankomics era.

Biobanking became a necessity for translating genetic discoveries into clinical practice. Approaches to personalized medicine require a new model system for functional and pharmacogenomic studies of a variety of accumulating genetic variations, as well as new research environments such as biobankomics. Human lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) will provide a valuable tool to meet such new demands in the biobankomics era. The National Biobank of Korea (NBK), which is leading the Korea Biobank Project, has a large collection of LCLs derived mostly from population-based cohort samples. Using a special long-term subculture collection of NBK LCLs, biological characteristics of early passage LCLs and terminally immortalized LCLs have been investigated to promote the utilization of LCLs and provide well quality-controlled LCLs for genetic and pharmacogenomic studies. As LCLs have been successfully phenotyped for cytotoxicity in response to various stimulators, including chemotherapeutic agents, environmental chemicals and irradiation, the utility of LCLs will increase in the future. Here, we discuss current and future applications of NBK LCLs for the biobankomics era.

The role of culture collections as an interface between providers and users: the example of yeasts.

The importance and species diversity of yeasts in food production are described, including a listing of agricultural applications. Two yeast species were selected for case studies on distribution patterns from microbial culture collections: the high representation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in culture collections enabled global comparison, while Dekkera bruxellensis deposits and distributions were analyzed from the perspective of a single culture collection. In conclusion, culture collections need to cover temporal gaps between deposit and application of strains. The further development of culture collections in countries of high but underexplored species diversity should facilitate the conservation and management of microbial resources.