Banking together A unified model of informed consent for biobanking

• Published in: EMBO reports Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 307 - 313
• Main Authors: Salvaterra, Elena, Lecchi, Lucilla, Giovanelli, Silvia, Butti, Barbara, Bardella, Maria Teresa, Bertazzi, Pier Alberto, Bosari, Silvano, Coggi, Guido, Coviello, Domenico A, Lalatta, Faustina, Moggio, Maurizio, Nosotti, Mario, Zanella, Alberto, Rebulla, Paolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-04-2008; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Biological Specimen Banks - standards; Blood banks; Consent Forms - ethics; Consent Forms - legislation & jurisprudence; Consent Forms - standards; EMBO52; EMBO54; Industrial development; Informed consent; International Agencies - legislation & jurisprudence; International law; Medical research; Regulation; Research Design - legislation & jurisprudence; Research Design - standards; Science and Society; Tissues; Viewpoint
• ISSN: 1469-221X; 1469-3178
• DOI: 10.1038/embor.2008.41

During the past 10 years, human biological material--body fluids, cells, tissues, intracellular substances or DNA--and the related data have become an important resource for academic medical research, and for the industrial development of diagnostics and therapeutics. The increasing creation and use of biobanks that store both the material and the related data bears witness to their scientific value, but there is still no consensus either internationally, or at the European or national levels about the regulations that should govern biobanks in ethical or legal terms.