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Ethical framework for previously collected biobank samples

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 973–976 (2007)Cite this article

To the editor:

An increasing trend in biobank research is to pool collections of biological samples in international scientific studies, thereby amplifying their potential scientific value. The pooling of samples, however, poses several challenges to national/international legislation and ethical guidelines relevant to biobank samples and also introduces new issues for patient/donor interests—as highlighted by correspondence in your May issue last year1, which indicated that for human biobanks “legal comparisons between regulations in different countries are laborious and defy generalizations.” Indeed, routines that have been used for information and consent vary greatly between existing biobanks. A majority of samples stored in clinical biobanks have been collected without expressed consent for research from sample donors. When consent has been obtained, it has often taken different forms. Here, we present an ethical framework for research on previously collected biobank samples constrained by some of the above issues. On this basis, we also provide recommendations for adapting existing consent procedures on such samples.

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Acknowledgements

This study is financed by the EU Sixth Framework Programme Network of Excellence Cancer Control and Prevention using Registries and Biobanks (CCPRB) and by the Swedish National Biobanking Programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Bioethics at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University, Uppsala Science Park, Uppsala, SE-75185, Sweden

    Gert Helgesson & Mats G Hansson

  2. Department of Medical Microbiology, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Entrance 78, Malmö, SE-20502, Sweden

    Joakim Dillner

  3. Department of Clinical Chemistry, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Entrance 71, Malmö, SE-20502, Sweden

    Joyce Carlson

  4. Institute for Human Genetics, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Claus R Bartram

Authors
  1. Gert Helgesson
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  2. Joakim Dillner
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  3. Joyce Carlson
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  4. Claus R Bartram
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  5. Mats G Hansson
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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Helgesson, G., Dillner, J., Carlson, J. et al. Ethical framework for previously collected biobank samples. Nat Biotechnol 25, 973–976 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0907-973b

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