Biobanking

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The collection, preservation, and storage of biological materials for future research and medical analysis is an essential practice in science
2. This involves the systematic gathering and conservation of biological samples, which are crucial for various scientific investigations and applications
3. The practice of collecting and maintaining biological specimens systematically for future scientific use

Etymology: "Biobanking" is a plain compound: "bio-", from Greek "bios" meaning "life", joined to "banking", in the sense of storing something for later use, as a bank stores money. The bio- prefix appears in many modern coinages, and here it signals that the stored material is living or biological in origin, such as blood, tissue, DNA or cell cultures. The idea behind the word is a deliberate reversal of the financial sense. A bank holds valuables so they can be drawn on later, and a biobank holds samples so that researchers in the future can study them with methods not yet invented. Stored material is kept under controlled conditions, often frozen, and linked to records about the donor so that it remains useful. The word is a modern formation, built from familiar parts rather than inherited from an older language. Its meaning follows directly from those two elements: life, and the act of keeping something safe for later withdrawal.