Every day, hundreds of people in German hospitals donate biomaterial and thus support medical progress. The collected biomaterials serve, in addition to diagnosis and therapy, primarily the research. "With the help of biomaterials, physicians and scientists can identify causes of illness and develop new targeted therapies," explains Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig from the Hannover Medical School (MHH), head of the Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB) and scientist at BREATH, the Hanoverian site of the German Center for Lung Research.

Biobanking, i.e. the storage of biomaterial samples such as blood and tissue, is one of the central tasks of the German Center for Lung Research. In biobanks, these samples are stored, linked to important disease-related background information. Already today, 20 projects of the DZL, mainly from the BREATH site, are using the HUB to a varying degree. Currently, more than 150,000 samples from over 32,000 patients are stored in the HUB.

Currently, the network of the GBA runs an information campaign that informs about biomaterial donations. After all, surveys showed that even today there is still a great need for information when it comes to how biomaterial samples are used and stored. The nationwide information campaign, consisting of posters, flyers and the website www.biobanken-verstehen.de, aims to create more transparency here. The website answers the most frequently asked questions about biomaterial donations and gives an insight into the work of modern biobanks. Successes from research can also be found on the website.

Source: https://www.mh-hannover.de/37311.html

Text: BREATH / CD
Image: Figiel / MHH