Collection, Processing, and Management of Biological Samples in Biobank Studies

Prospective biobanks provide opportunities for investigating the contributions of a wide range of lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors to risk, aetiology, and prediction of many different diseases. A growing array of high throughput technologies, capable of measuring of hundreds, thousands, or millions of biochemical and genetic factors, can support investigation of the relationship of such factors to disease risk or risk factors, inform on aspects of behaviour or lifestyle that are otherwise difficult to measure reliably (e.g., diet), and enable the generation and testing of hypotheses concerning the causes of disease. Thus, integral to any biobank study is the collection, processing, and storage of biological samples for use in such technologies. This chapter describes the main steps involved in these processes. There will be an emphasis on study design and developing procedures to ensure that the types of samples collected will be suitable for the intended analyses, and that they are processed, transported, and stored under conditions that will preserve their integrity and allow them to be used for a range of future research purposes. Requirements for sample linkage and security will also be considered. These considerations are not limited to prospective studies, but are relevant to any study (e.g., retrospectively recruited case-control cohorts) that involves the collection and storage of biological samples from large numbers of individuals.