New Frontiers: The Changing World of Biospecimen Collection

Biospecimens have traditionally been tracked and stored by laboratories in relatively ad-hoc and non-centralized methods. Revolutions in genomics and proteomics, leading to increased awareness of the links between the molecular and genetic basis of diseases and treatments, are demanding more unified and large scale software systems to track biological markers. This article presents the idea of a new class of ‘enterprise biobanking’ software systems, such as the Sapphire™ BioBanking Solution from LabVantage Solutions, which maintain centralized records linking multiple labs around the world, integrating with LIMS and CTMS systems, as well as managing the complexities surrounding the human consent forms attached to each sample.