National Center Biobank Network

Abstract

Biobanks: Japanese network promotes research collaboration Japan’s National Center Biobank Network (NCBN) has standardized the collection and storage of high-quality disease-related data and samples, offering collaboration opportunities in basic and applied research. Yosuke Omae and colleagues of the NCBN’s Central Biobank write in a review that these resources could be used in the search for new diagnostic and treatment targets. The NCBN was established in 2011 to coordinate the biobanks of six national centers specializing in cancer and pediatric, geriatric, cardiovascular, psychiatric, neurological, muscular, chronic, and infectious diseases. Its open-access catalogue ( http://www2.ncbiobank.org/Index_en ) includes filters for specific diseases, basic patient data such as age and sex, tissue type (e.g., plasma, DNA, solid tissue), and medical, family, and lifestyle history. As of 31 March 2022, the NCBN had more than 400,000 registered bioresources and 120,081 registered patients with a wide variety of diseases.