The Geographical Distribution of Global Biobanks

Farzad Parvizpour, Sarvenaz Salahi, Mohammad Amin Mahmanzar, Karim Rahimian, Neda Esfandiari, Zahra Fatahi, Niousha Khoshdast, Reyhaneh Yarmohammadi, Mohamad Amir Amirkhani, Arefeh Jafarian

Abstract

This study aimed to comprehensively review the global biobanks to visualize their geographical distribution. The protocol for this review consisted of the following steps: i. Developing a search strategy to identify biobanks from each continent, ii. Defining variables (such as tissue-based, cell-based, and gene-based biobanks) and organizing them in Excel sheets for data collection, iii. Collecting data, iv. Removing duplicate and invalid entries, v. Structuring the database, and vi. Analyzing the data. MATLAB software was utilized for data analysis and chart plotting. Data on global biobanks aimed to collected through targeted searches of databases, publications, and registries using predefined variables such as biobank type, location, and accessibility. The data were organized, cleaned to remove duplicates, and analyzed using MATLAB to visualize geographical distribution and prevalence patterns. Tissue and cell-based, tissue-based, and cellbased biobanks were the most common type of global biobanks with a prevalence of 30.4, 27.93, and 25.15%. United Kingdom (n=78, P=43.09%), Canada (n=43, P=23.75%), and the United States (n=33, P=18.23%) were the countries with a higher frequency of tissue-based biobanks (domain frequency: 1-78; 0.55-43.09%). However, tissue and genebased biobanks had the most minor frequency and were only in two countries of Spain (n=1, P=25%) and the United Kingdom (n=3, P=75%). The results of this study indicate that the feasibility of designing and conducting biobanks varies by type. Tissue and cell-based biobanks were found to be more prevalent, followed by tissue-based, cell-based, cell and gene-based, tissue, cell, and gene-based, gene-based, and finally, tissue and gene-based biobanks. This study represents the initial step in creating a global database by identifying all types of biobanks worldwide.

Keywords: Biobank; Cell; Gene; Prevalence; Tissue.

Cell J. 2025 Jan 8;26(9):523-529. doi: 10.22074/cellj.2024.2024380.1525.