Ó³»´«Ã½ launches new scientific platform
Photo by Maria Nemchuk
As biomedical science continues to advance, both in sophistication and in scale, it is increasingly common for a research study to include thousands of biological specimens. To ensure that each specimen is handled with equal rigor — no matter how large or small the study — the Ó³»´«Ã½ has added a new scientific expertise for managing its research samples. Researchers in this new Biological Samples Platform will work with their Ó³»´«Ã½ colleagues in several biomedical disciplines to ensure that all of the varied specimens undergoing analysis at the Ó³»´«Ã½ are collected, stored and characterized according to state-of-the-art research standards.
"The development of this critical new platform will allow us to process and store our biological samples using standardized and validated protocols, ensuring the scientific integrity, quality and accuracy of all of our studies," said Kristin Ardlie, the director of the new Biological Samples Platform. "This platform also enables us to properly maintain information that is associated with each sample and vital to our Ó³»´«Ã½ colleagues’ research efforts."
The Biological Samples Platform provides the expertise needed to carefully oversee every biological sample that comes through the Ó³»´«Ã½'s doors, including both primary specimens, such as blood and tissue samples, and biochemical derivatives, such as DNA and RNA. To ensure the highest quality for all subsequent biological analyses, specimens are collected, registered, and stored according to standardized methods, which include meticulously registering and tracking the samples with a unique barcode that can be scanned and recorded electronically. All of the myriad biochemical derivatives that can be synthesized or extracted from a given specimen are also stored and tracked in this manner.
In line with established ethical guidelines, Ó³»´«Ã½ scientists who utilize the platform’s expertise are asked to certify that all human samples are acquired under approved protocols of "informed consent." This means that the person donating the sample has given written permission for it to be analyzed and is aware of the scientific purpose for which it is intended. Consent forms may also authorize the use of donated specimens in future research studies. The Biological Samples Platform incorporates all of this information into its database, thereby connecting each sample with its appropriate consent information. To ensure patient privacy and to meet the requirements of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), personal information such as names, addresses or social security numbers, are not maintained in the platform's records.
The Biological Samples Platform group (left to right) Jennifer Franklin, Scott Mahan, Kristin Ardlie, Alex Thomson, Shannon Power, Harsh Sondhi, Jennifer Chan and Fernando ViloriaPhoto by Maria Nemchuk
Researchers in the Biological Samples Platform also help to compile the clinical or phenotypic facts and figures that are associated with each research specimen and could be pertinent in a research context. This information ranges from the straightforward, such as the age or gender of the individual who contributed the sample, to the technical, such as blood pressure readings or a list of prescribed medications. For some human specimens, such as abnormal tissues from surgeries or tumor biopsies, the platform has its own pathology expertise to ensure sample quality and to provide a detailed assessment of the samples’ histological characteristics. To manage the various types of information that are collected, the Biological Samples platform has a team of bioinformatics specialists who insure that the information is stored, tracked, and appropriately linked to the specimens.
Platform scientists are engaged in a wide range of scientific endeavors at the Ó³»´«Ã½ and although the majority of the specimens originate from humans, the researchers also manage samples from a variety of other organisms, including dogs, opossums, chimpanzees, and the malarial pathogen Plasmodium falciparum. The platform has been in operation since late spring and is already busy inventorying and processing some 70,000 samples, which represents a fraction of the research samples used at the Ó³»´«Ã½.
"The Biological Samples platform is notable both for its intent and its implementation," said Todd Golub, director of the Ó³»´«Ã½â€™s Cancer Program. "By working with individual researchers to collect and manage research specimens, the new platform will enable Ó³»´«Ã½ scientists and their collaborators to embark on even bolder projects — ones which may have otherwise seemed too formidable."
