Just like the name sounds ‘Biobank’ serves as a bank or technically said, as a repository to store biological specimens (blood, tissue, genetic material- DNA and RNA, etc.) along with data related to lifestyle and other health related parameters for the purpose of medical research, personalized medication, diagnostic development, etc. Recently on July 6, 2025, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated state-of-the-art Phenome India ‘National Bank’, with the aim of building India’s own longitudinal health database and fostering towards personalized treatment in future. Building and maintaining a biobank is a task of immense responsible actions in which various key factors remain under consideration, some of them as provided by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) are enlisted below:
Type, number, aliquots, size of biospecimens
Storage containers
Storage temperature and conditions
Frequency of access to biospecimens
Requirements for identification of biospecimens
Availability of storage space
Requirements for temperature monitoring
Associated data
Financial and operational sustainability
Some of the worldwide leading biobanks include UK Biobank, FIND (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) Biobank, Spanish HIV Biobank, and many more.
This image can be referred as a case study (UK Biobank) to better understand the type of data that constitute the biobank. Image Sourced
You are most welcomed here to add more Biobanks in the above list, and also, share your perspective on India’s leap towards personalized medicine via building this facility
Biobanks play a crucial role in advancing personalized medicine by helping researchers understand genetic and lifestyle differences within the Indian population. With proper ethical standards and data protection, this approach can lead to more accurate treatments, better drug responses, and stronger public health outcomes.
It’s about time we had a more localized approach. For so long, we’ve relied on Western data, but India’s genetic diversity is so unique that a ‘one size fits all’ model just doesn’t work for us. Biobanks are going to be a total game-changer for how we treat chronic diseases here.
Biobanks are such an important part of healthcare, and the appropriate maintenance is the most crucial part post its establishment. Glad that our country’s government itself is taking initiatives for this, making the facilities available to all spectrums of the community.
I see India’s launch of the Phenome India National Bank as a pivotal step in reshaping the country’s biomedical research landscape. Biobanks are not just repositories of specimens but they are living archives of population health, enabling discoveries that span from disease etiology to personalized interventions.
India’s launch of the Phenome India National Biobank marks a pivotal leap toward data-driven, personalized medicine, aligning India with global leaders like the UK Biobank.
With robust governance and long-term sustainability, this initiative can transform preventive care, precision diagnostics, and indigenous biomedical research at scale.
