Biobanking and biorepositories: looking to the future.

Abstract

acquired biological materials, such as surgical preparations, biopsies or blood samples and their derivatives, for research within academic, public healthcare and clinical trial settings. Sample collections of various sizes and ages and with varying levels of standardization and documentation, derived from vast populations during routine surgery, autopsy or diagnostic procedures, as well as samples prospectively donated by informed consenting patients to a myriad of specific research projects, have become potentially useful for the discovery of new biomarkers – the unanimous choice of the participants at the Amsterdam meeting as their