What Happens To My Sample?
Apr 12, 2019
By Kristy Crooks, PhD, FACMG, Associate Director of the Biobank
The Biobank Laboratory is a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory, which means that it meets the highest quality standards. We are responsible for protecting and processing your blood sample.
When your blood is received in the lab, the first thing we do is assign a new code to it, so that no one except study staff with special permission can know your identity. Next, we take out genetic material (DNA) from each sample. Some of the DNA gets sent for genotyping, which is a laboratory process that lets us look for changes at about 2 million individual places in each participant’s genetic code.
The rest of the DNA is “banked” for later research. By collecting genotype data from our tens of thousands of participants, we can partner with researchers to better understand how genetic variation in people affects health. We hope that these research studies will eventually lead to new discoveries on how to better predict, prevent and treat disease.
The Biobank Laboratory is a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory, which means that it meets the highest quality standards. We are responsible for protecting and processing your blood sample.
When your blood is received in the lab, the first thing we do is assign a new code to it, so that no one except study staff with special permission can know your identity. Next, we take out genetic material (DNA) from each sample. Some of the DNA gets sent for genotyping, which is a laboratory process that lets us look for changes at about 2 million individual places in each participant’s genetic code.
The rest of the DNA is “banked” for later research. By collecting genotype data from our tens of thousands of participants, we can partner with researchers to better understand how genetic variation in people affects health. We hope that these research studies will eventually lead to new discoveries on how to better predict, prevent and treat disease.
