Biobancos. Una estrategia exigente y esencial para la conservación de muestras biológicas

The collection and storage of biological samples for research purposes is an activity linked for some time with the history and development of science and medicine. Nowadays, the availability of properly validated sample preservation banks is associated with the current and future development of scientific research. It is generally understood that a sample conservation bank is a physical space that allows to keep in ideal conditions a number of biological samples in an organized manner, observing the highest standards of quality, according to the ethical and legal norms established for these cases and whose aim is biomedical research, tending to generate new knowledge, as well as diverse diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Beyond their physical infrastructure, biobanks consist of a database that allows to know in real time and in detail the status and condition of each sample, as well as protocols and clear and well established guidelines for the use of samples required for research projects. Most sample conservation banks were born of the need to store remaining biological samples of some biomedical or population research, of different health campaigns, or of samples collected for forensic purposes and criminalistics. Later, with the improvement of sample preservation techniques and the advent of molecular analysis microtechnics, the need to institutionalize them and make them what they are today became evident: the starting point for any research process and of new knowledge generation, a scientific tool of the first order with a virtually unlimited growth potential. This paper aims to recreate some of the most important aspects of the development of biobanks as well as to highlight its importance for the consolidation of a serious and sustained over time research culture of quality, that benefits the development of the scientific community in particular, and of society in general