Biobank expert: don't be blinded by a nice shiny storage system

Automation in the lab world in the form of automated storage systems requires specialist hardware and software. In the world of biobanks, additional requirements are imposed. Because does a robot continue to function at temperatures of -80 degrees Celsius? And what about privacy?

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Erik Steinfelder, director of BBMRI-ERIC, will answer these and other questions during his lecture at the LabAutomation event. Because the chance that someone will directly or indirectly come into contact with a biobank is considerable, says Steinfelder: “Assume that if you have been treated or operated on for something in the past five years, there is a good chance that a sample of blood or urine has been collected. saved for future research. That happens in a biobank.”

He continues: “In Europe we have hundreds of million samples stored. Think of blood, urine, hair and semen. You can do all kinds of research on that. It is our job as an organization to let people know what biobanks are and to make them findable. We also help European researchers find the right samples.”

Small market

Automated storage systems are not yet a given in every biobank, says Steinfelder: “You can store those millions of samples in different ways, for example in freezers. There are biobanks that have gymnasiums full of freezers. Some say at that scale: it is no longer possible to do it manually. Then they opt for a robotized system. But in Europe there are on average only a few biobanks per country. You have to have enough turnaround and also enough samples.”

According to Steinfelder, the market for automated storage systems is therefore relatively small and there are a limited number of manufacturers: “It is difficult to get a robot to work at -80 degrees Celsius,” he explains.

For large biobanks, automated systems potentially have many advantages, says the BBMRI director: “Sometimes you store samples for a very long period. With these storage systems you can save history because every step is recorded. This is particularly useful in pharmacy. There are also biobanks where samples continuously come in and out. At a certain point, without such a system, this is no longer feasible.”

Privacy concerns

But all this metadata linked to samples also makes an automated system vulnerable: “What is even more important than the sample itself is the data behind it. This can be socio-economic data, but also information about dietary needs or other medical data. You can build up a whole profile of someone. How can you prevent it from falling into the wrong hands? There are guidelines for this, but implementing that is not always easy for the average biobank.”

In addition, it may happen that insufficient resources have been made available to properly organize security: “My message will also be: robot systems can easily cost a million, but if you look at the software side, some parties think 25,000 euros is already too much. ,” says Steinfelder. Yet biobanks that pay too little attention to security are at fault, says Steinfelder: “Donors may start to have doubts and then say: I will no longer donate blood.”

During his lecture, the BBMRI director will emphasize to the audience that implementing an automated storage system should not be underestimated: “Don't be blinded by a nice shiny storage system, it goes much further. If you have a biobank, look carefully at the whole picture.”