The German Biobank Node (GBN), together with its partner biobanks in Heidelberg and Jena, has developed a comprehensive quality assurance programme including round robin tests and internal audits. Since 2018, seven round robin tests and 24 audits have been performed within the German Biobank Alliance (GBA). Information on which alliance-internal round robin tests and audits GBA biobanks have participated in can now be found on the GBN website. Under "German Biobank Alliance" this information is noted on the subpages of the biobanks.
With round robin tests and internal audits, the biobanks are able to check their processes, sample quality and their entire biobank system. During a round robin test, biosamples of an identical material are processed and then sent to a reference laboratory for checking. In the GBA-internal, so-called "friendly" audits, employees from different GBA biobank sites audit each other once a year and check whether an organisation's processes, requirements and guidelines meet the standards required in each case.
With these measures, GBN offers GBA biobanks optimal preparation for accreditation according to the biobank standard DIN EN ISO 20387:2020, available in German since 2020.
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