The German Biobank Alliance (GBA) continues to grow

The German Biobank Alliance (GBA) welcomes 15 more biobanks to its network. Four years after ist foundation, the GBA thus encompasses biobanks at almost all German university hospitals. Academic biobanks at 35 sites and one IT development centre are now working together in the network coordinated by the German Biobank Node (GBN). By processing and storing human biospecimens and making them available with associated data, biobanks play an important role for biomedical research. GBA biobanks establish joint quality standards and network via an IT infrastructure. They thus offer ideal conditions for cross-biobank collections of biospecimens – a particular asset for COVID-19 research.

Modern medicine is becoming ever more precise: diseases are increasingly diagnosed on the basis of subtle molecular differences in order to be able to apply the individually appropriate therapy at the right time for each patient. “The knowledge for such precision medicine can only be acquired through the comprehensive analysis of biosamples from both healthy and diseased donors. Biobanks therefore collect, process and store blood, tissue and other body materials with the utmost care and make them available for research,” says Prof. Dr. Michael Hummel, head of the German Biobank Node (GBN).

Comparable sample quality, easy access 

The quality of the samples used and rapid access to them is crucial for the success of biomedical research. The GBA was founded in 2017 to establish uniform quality standards for academic biobanks in Germany and to network them via a common IT structure. It has now associated 15 more biobanks to its network…

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