The 21st century is a time of flourishing biotechnology, with biomedical resources now being a vital national strategic resource. The Biobank at Shenzhen Second People's Hospital has consistently aligned with national strategic directions, adhering to the principles of "standardization, normalization, informatization, and intelligence." The goal is to develop our biobank into the largest and most clinically functional clinical sample and data resource repository in Shenzhen, thereby promoting the translation of basic medical research findings into clinical applications.
Since its official establishment in 2015, the biobank at Shenzhen Second People's Hospital has mainly undertaken the standardized management of sample processing, storage, retrieval, and usage for various clinical departments within the hospital, as well as the administrative approval of human genetic resources. After relocation and expansion in 2021, the biobank now plans to achieve a total storage capacity of 5 million samples. Currently, Phase I has been completed with a total storage capacity of 2 million samples, and Phase II plans to expand to an automated storage capacity of 3 million samples. The biobank comprises a pre-processing area and a physical storage area. The pre-processing area is located on the basement floor of the hospital's surgical building and includes the Human Genetic Resources Office, Clinical Data Repository, Biological Sample Information Database, Clinical Sample Reception Room, and Clinical Sample Pre-Processing Room, covering an area of about 100 square meters. The physical storage area is located on the 2nd floor of Building 1, Phase I, Yinxing Intelligence Park, Longhua District, Shenzhen, covering an area of about 600 square meters and includes a room temperature storage room, a low-temperature storage room, a deep low-temperature storage room, a liquid nitrogen storage room, and a quality control room.
The current equipment in our biobank is valued at approximately 10 million yuan, including 40 deep low-temperature freezers, 8 liquid nitrogen tanks, 1 automatic nucleic acid extractor, 1 nucleic acid fluorescence quantitative analyzer for routine molecular biology sample processing; 1 semi-automatic tissue embedding machine, 1 microtome, and 1 pathological microscope for pathological sample processing; 1 protein ultrasonic processor, 1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay reader, and 2 protein electrophoresis instruments for protein identification; as well as a set of biobank storage and information management software and a cold chain monitoring system.
In August 2021, our biobank became a member of the Biobank Branch of the China Medicinal Biotechnology Association. The biobank employs qualified staff with certifications in biobank construction management, human genetic resource management, pre-employment training for biobank personnel, and internal auditing for biobank quality standards.
