Future of biobanking and translational research in China

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As clinical medical research in China reaches a turning point, the country’s strategy for expanding its biosample collection and analysis capabilities and its focus on acquiring new sources of biomedical data to accelerate translational research are highlighted in a special issue of Biopreservation and Biobanking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The issue is available free on the Biopreservation and Biobanking website until March 20, 2015.

In the article “Turning Point: Biobanking in China and the Future of Translational Research,” Yutong Song, et al., Shanghai Clinical Research Center, Beijing Capital Medical University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, review the history and design of biobanking in China. They note that this special issue emphasizes the essential role that biobanking in China will have in advancing translational research and the health management industry through medical data accumulation.

Rongxing Gan and colleagues, Shanghai Clinical Research Center and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provide an overview of the ongoing development of biosample collections, the role of these collections in modern clinical research, and future strategies in the article “Chinese Biobanking Initiatives.”

Xiaopan Liu and coauthors, BGI-Shenzhen and BGI-Yunnan, explore the simplicity, cost, and usefulness of the RNA samples acquired by various methods to study gene expression in blood samples in the article “Comparison of Six Different Pretreatment Methods for Blood RNA Extraction.”

The article “Ethical Management Guidelines for the Shanghai Disease-Based Biobank Network7,” by Shu Zhu, et al., Shanghai Clinical Research Center, presents an English version of China’s biobank ethical management guidelines, which are based on a one-time broad consent with an opt-out provision.

“This special issue on biobanking in China is timely, as biobanking networks and standards are being developed, along with a growing relationship with the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER)” says Editor-in-Chief Jim Vaught, PhD. “The articles include a history of biobanking in China, as well as contributions from authors discussing their current efforts in the regulatory, technical, and biospecimen research areas.”

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