Biospecimens consist of living cells or suspensions of biomolecules that are the products of living cells. These biological elements are active and reactive to the environmental changes and biological stresses introduced by the processes of biospecimen acquisition, handling, storage, and transport. The variables introduced by these processes may profoundly change the molecular composition or profile of the biospecimen within short periods of time. These process-induced molecular changes must be better understood by researchers in order to reduce the risk of their misinterpretation as disease-related or even disease-specific. The Biospecimen Research Network (BRN)( http://biospecimens.cancer.gov/science/brn/) was initiated by the National Cancer Institute to systematically address the impact of specific specimen handling variables on molecular testing of human tissues.
The Biospecimen Research Database represents a joint effort of the BRN, the RAND Corporation, and the National Cancer Institute Center for Bioinformatics, to survey and curate the existing scientific literature for research data that defines the precise relationships between biospecimen handling and the quality and reproducibility of data for cancer research. The prototype version is available here as a web-based searchable database that displays information about how specific biospecimen procedural variables (e.g., the length of time between surgical excision and biospecimen freezing, conditions of tissue fixation, blood collection and separation procedures, and sample storage conditions) can produce variation in gene expression patterns and detection of protein biomarkers. No login is required to enter the site and search the database; simply hit "Search" to begin.
We welcome your help in identifying and curating additional scientific papers and protocols, published and unpublished, for the Biospecimen Research Database. Please contact OBBR (mailto:biospecimens@mail.nih.gov) for further information and to volunteer to help us make this database a vital tool for Biospecimen Science.
