Biobank is a comprehensive resource that integrates biological sample entities, biomolecular information and sample phenotypic data, which plays an irreplaceable role in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases, as well as the protection of species resources and crop improvement innovation.
◎ Reporter Chen Xi
At the "8th China (Shanghai) International Technology Import and Export Fair" held recently, Shanghai Progeny Cell Bio-Cryogenic Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Geneng Bio) demonstrated the latest generation of fully automatic deep cryogenic biological sample storage equipment, and its innovative integration results with 5G-loT, digital twins and other technologies. In the future, with just one mobile phone, customers will be able to view the storage information of biological samples in real time. This new service model of biological sample storage will truly realize the intelligent, safe and efficient operation of biological sample banks, making biological samples more secure.
Biological sample resources are regarded as the cornerstone of the development of the biomedical industry and an important part of the national biosecurity strategy. With the formal implementation of the Biosafety Law of the People's Republic of China, the importance of biological sample resources has become more and more prominent. How to safely, long-term and effectively preserve these precious biological resources has also become an important problem to be solved urgently.
Biological sample resources cover a wide range
"Biological samples cover a wide range, such as flowers, leaves, stems, roots and seeds of plant tissues, cells, tissues and organs of healthy and diseased people or animals, as well as biological macromolecular substances such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and various microorganisms." Shuai Ling, a researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology of Nankai University, introduced that biological samples are stored in the biobank, that is, the "biological bank", which can be used for the clinical treatment of diseases, the research of life sciences and the preservation of species resources.
Biobanking is a comprehensive resource that integrates biological sample entities, biomolecular information and sample phenotypic data, and plays an irreplaceable role in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.
Doctors will be the patient's clinical diagnosis and treatment process of tissues, blood, urine, etc., such as surgically removed tumor tissue, or the patient's blood samples and other biological samples to retain, through observation and various detection methods, from the sample to find commonalities, so as to explore the cause of the disease and the development process, and finally find a reliable treatment.
"This biobanking has played a very important role in promoting the research of major diseases such as blood diseases, immune system diseases, diabetes, and malignant tumors." The marshal said.
In addition to clinical studies, biobanks are used directly in clinical treatment. For example, the cord blood stem cell bank that we are familiar with preserves the umbilical cord blood of the fetus in case of blood diseases, and the stem cells in the umbilical cord blood are revived and transfused back to the patient, so as to achieve the purpose of treating the disease.
In addition, in the protection of species resources, the storage of biological samples is equally significant. Taking the germplasm bank as an example, at present, the endangered and threatened species of higher plants in China have reached 4,000 to 5,000 species, accounting for about 15%-20% of the total number of species. Through the germplasm bank, the safety of some species is guaranteed, which also makes it possible to quickly and efficiently study and utilize the germplasm resources of wild organisms in China. Germplasm banks have all played a huge role in crop improvement and innovation, new crop screening, ecological restoration and return to the wild.
Technological innovations make sample management smarter
The urgent demand for biological sample resources is increasing day by day, and higher requirements are also put forward for the quantity and quality of biological sample storage. Especially in today's medical research to the level of omics and systematic molecular medicine, the amount of biological samples has accumulated to astronomical numbers, and the extensive biological sample bank in the past can no longer meet the growing needs.
"In many hospitals and research institutions, very 'primitive' biological sample preservation techniques are also used." Wei Jia, vice president and marketing director of Pronergical Cell Technology Group, introduced that the traditional biological sample storage mode not only has a low degree of automation and intelligence of storage devices, but also has different operating standards, and there are problems such as improper sample preservation, loss errors, inability to manage information, and labor inefficiency.
Previously, the only automated storage device for biological samples on the market was monopolized by foreign brands, and a set of equipment was often millions of euros, and the price was expensive. "To this end, our technical research and development team of more than 100 people decided to do it themselves to develop domestic equipment with independent intellectual property rights." Wei Jia said.
Taking the guarantee of "biological sample safety" as the starting point, Haraeng Bio innovatively proposes advanced concepts such as "full-process cryogenic cold chain protection", "hive-type independent unit storage", "single access", "5G-loT remote intelligent sample bank management" and "unattended sample bank" to create an automated product for a new generation of biological sample bank requirements and make biological samples safer.
Among them, the flagship product BSN series automatic deep and low temperature biological sample storage device adopts the original patented honeycomb storage structure, which can provide an oxygen-free storage environment of -196 °C vapor phase liquid nitrogen for samples, which can effectively ensure the safety and quality of samples.
"The core storage area of this device is made of specially engineered materials, so it is protected from radiation and light." Wei Jia introduced that the design of the honeycomb type independent unit, while avoiding interference, can form a chimney effect when storing samples, and the direction of cold air flow is from bottom to top, keeping the internal air flow stable and eliminating moisture entry, so frost can be avoided, anaerobic storage can be achieved, and the cold storage is balanced.
"The new generation of biobanks also adopts leading automated and intelligent storage equipment to achieve deep and low temperature protection of the whole process of samples, anaerobic storage, and complete traceability of data records in all aspects of access." Wei Jia introduced that the biobank integrates 5G-loT technology, links various devices in the library, realizes data interoperability, ensures the data security of the sample database, and makes the sample management more intelligent.
"For example, we have applied artificial intelligence digital twin technology, and by putting machine data into the data model for simulation calculations, predictive maintenance can be carried out to ensure that the machine remains in good running condition for a long time." Wei Jia introduced.
At present, Yuanneng Bio has applied for nearly 300 patents at home and abroad, and nearly 30 software copyrights, leading the world in technology. Related equipment has been exported to the United States and Japan, realizing the "curve overtaking" of international tracks, and truly achieving autonomous control in the field of automated low-temperature storage equipment.
Sample data can be directly docked with scientific research institutions
"With the rapid development of precision medicine and genetics research, biobanking has become an important basis for identifying a variety of diseases and pathogenesis." Shuai Ling introduced that the amount of information in the biobank is very large, it not only contains the collection of samples, but also contains the collection and follow-up of sample-related organisms or human body data. Therefore, in the research of precision medicine, biobanking can play a major role.
Biobanking is also widely used in metabolomics. The most common human metabolite is urine, which is more convenient and accessible than blood sample collection. According to the epidemiological survey in 2013, the prevalence of diabetes in adults in China is 10.9%, and the prevalence of prediabetes is 35.7%, according to which it is estimated that the current number of diabetic patients in China has reached 148.31 million. The use of China's rich diabetes sample resources, combined with quantitative proteome technology and urine metabolomics analysis and detection, is conducive to the prediction and clinical diagnosis of early diabetes onset, and can improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment level of metabolic diseases in China.
In addition, biobanking is widely used in the drug development industry. A big obstacle in the field of new drug research and development is that the source of biological samples needs to be tested, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and requires a lot of money. With a biobank of various types of information, the efficiency of new drug development will be significantly improved.
"It can be said that high-quality biological sample banks with complete clinical information are the key to entering the era of personalized medicine in the 21st century and the basis for systematic research in life sciences." Shuai Ling said that the use of the biobank platform can effectively improve the accuracy of clinical research, and can also make use of China's rich clinical patient sample resources, through clinical research into clinical medical means, for the benefit of mankind.
Source: Science and Technology Daily