Biobanks as the basis for developing biomedicine: Problems and prospects

Biobanking is crucial for the development of life sciences in general and biomedical science in particular. A systematic study of stored biomaterials enables the discovery of new biomarkers for various physiological and pathophysiological states, identification of the drug targets, and validation of these findings in human population studies. During the last decades, the importance of biobanking has increased in parallel with the growth in their size from relatively small collections to very large national and international biorepositories. Here, we have systematically reviewed modern approaches to biobanking, a variety of biobank definitions and types, and the current states of biobanking art in Russia and in the world and have discussed the obstacles to the global development of biobanking, along with possible solutions.