The German Biobank Node celebrates its 10th anniversary

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17.01.2024

Ten years of the German Biobank Node (GBN) - A decade of progress in biomedical research
Human biospecimens stored in biobanks and linked data help to detect diseases at an early stage and treat them successfully. The German Biobank Node (GBN), an umbrella organization for academic biobanks in Germany, was founded to make these valuable resources more easily accessible for national and international research while ensuring the highest quality standards. This year, the GBN is celebrating its tenth anniversary. "As an important partner in the research landscape, the GBN has helped to gain insights that have far-reaching implications for medicine," says GBN Director Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Hummel.
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the GBN, which is based at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, initially began a concept phase in 2014. Three years later, it took over the coordination of the newly founded German Biobank Alliance (GBA), which now includes a total of 36 locations. The Hannover Unified Biobank is one of these partner biobanks. Prof. Thomas Illig is also a member of the GBN management committee. Around 35 million human biosamples such as blood, tissue samples, isolated cells or extracted DNA are stored in the GBA biobanks and new ones are constantly being added. The biobanks process these samples and make them available for basic research, for all phases of therapy development and for the development and testing of diagnostics.

High relevance for patients and researchers "The availability of high-quality biosamples and associated data is crucial for the development of new effective and safe therapies and thus for improving patient care," emphasizes patient representative Dr. Stefanie Houwaart from BRCA-Netzwerk e.V., member of the GBN Scientific Advisory Board. Prof. Dr. Christopher Baum, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and member of the Advisory Board, also underlines the importance of the GBN: "The tenth anniversary of the GBN is an important event for the research community. The samples and associated data provided by the network have significantly advanced our research and enable innovative approaches for personalized medicine."

Ensuringquality and access to biosamples and data
To ensure the quality of biosamples and data, the GBN has introduced overarching standards within the GBA and continuously trains biobank employees. In collaboration with the BioMaterialBank Heidelberg (BMBH), the Integrated Biobank Jena (IBBJ) and the BioBank Dresden (BBD), the GBN regularly conducts interlaboratory comparisons to check sample quality and biobank processes. The tissue bank of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg achieved accreditation according to the DIN EN ISO 20387 standard for biobanking in 2023 with the support of the GBN. This makes it one of the first biobanks in the world with this quality certification. The GBN has created the online tool "Sample Locator" (samplelocator.bbmri.de) for researchers to search for and request samples and data in GBA biobanks.

Strong commitment at EU level
The Sample Locator was recently further developed in cooperation with the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and is now part of a European search and analysis platform. The "Federated Platform" is offered by the European biobank network BBMRI-ERIC (Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure European Research Infrastructure). The tenth anniversary of the GBN is also its anniversary as a so-called National Node of the European research infrastructure. "Through close cooperation with BBMRI-ERIC as a National Node, we can facilitate the exchange of samples and data not only nationally, but also globally, and make a contribution to biomedical research," says GBN Managing Director Dr. Cornelia Specht.

Outlook
The GBN is strongly committed to establishing professional biobanks as indispensable research infrastructures. The long-term establishment of the GBN as an umbrella organization for German biobanks is of central importance for this. "The future of quality-oriented biobanking lies in strong cooperation at national and European level. The work of the GBN helps to accelerate research and develop innovative therapies," emphasizes Dr. Heidi Altmann from BioBank Dresden.

About the German Biobank Node (GBN)
Under the umbrella of the German Biobank Node (GBN), academic biobanks at 36 locations and an IT development center have joined forces in the German Biobank Alliance (GBA). The GBA biobanks establish common quality standards and make their human biosamples and associated data available for medical research. As the German representative in the European biobank network BBMRI-ERIC, GBN promotes the harmonization and networking of biobanks in Europe. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports the work of GBN, which is supported by the German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg (DKFZ) in the area of IT as well as the BioMaterialBank Heidelberg (BMBH) and the Integrated Biobank Jena (IBBJ) in the area of quality management.

 

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Further information: https://www.bbmri.de/