Models of biobanks and implications for reproductive health innovation

Establishing a reproductive biorepository for basic and translational research: experience developing the reproductive subjects registry and sample repository

PURPOSE

To report experience designing and establishing a reproductive registry and sample biorepository and to describe initial subject characteristics and biospecimens.

METHODS

Beginning in December 2017, patients presenting for reproductive care at the University of Michigan were approached for study enrollment. Following consent, subjects completed detailed reproductive and health questionnaires. A variety of reproductive specimens and tissues were collected and processed for multiple downstream applications.

RESULTS

Subject enrollment began in December of 2017. There are currently 1798 subjects enrolled. Female participants report a variety of reproductive disorders. Available samples include semen, sperm, follicular fluid, granulosa cells, immature oocytes, ovarian and uterine tissue, and blood samples.

CONCLUSION

We report the successful establishment of a reproductive registry and sample biorepository. Furthermore, we describe methods for collection and storage of a variety of reproductive tissue processed for multiple downstream translational applications.

Where Does Open Science Lead Us During a Pandemic? A Public Good Argument to Prioritize Rights in the Open Commons

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, open science has become central to experimental, public health, and clinical responses across the globe. Open science (OS) is described as an open commons, in which a right to science renders all possible scientific data for everyone to access and use. In this common space, capitalist platforms now provide many essential services and are taking the lead in public health activities. These neoliberal businesses, however, have a problematic role in the capture of public goods. This paper argues that the open commons is a community of rights, consisting of people and institutions whose interests mutually support the public good. If OS is a cornerstone of public health, then reaffirming the public good is its overriding purpose, and unethical platforms ought to be excluded from the commons and its benefits.

Falling giants and the rise of gene editing: ethics, private interests and the public good

This paper considers the tensions created in genomic research by public and private for-profit ideals. Our intent is to strengthen the public good at a time when doing science is strongly motivated by market possibilities and opportunities. Focusing on the emergence of gene editing, and in particular CRISPR, we consider how commercialisation encourages hype and hope-a sense that only promise and idealism can achieve progress. At this rate, genomic research reinforces structures that promote, above all else, private interests, but that may attenuate conditions for the public good of science. In the first part, we situate genomics using the aphorism that 'on the shoulders of giants we see farther'; these giants are infrastructures and research cultures rather than individual 'heroes' of science. In this respect, private initiatives are not the only pivot for successful discovery, and indeed, fascination in those could impinge upon the fundamental role of public-supported discovery. To redress these circumstances, we define the extent to which progress presupposes research strategies that are for the public good. In the second part, we use a 'falling giant' narrative to illustrate the risks of over-indulging for-profit initiatives. We therefore offer a counterpoint to commercialised science, using three identifiable 'giants'-scientists, publics and cultures-to illustrate how the public good contributes to genomic discovery.

Biobanking of different body fluids within the frame of IVF-a standard operating procedure to improve reproductive biology research

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the collection, transport, and storage of human cumulus cells, follicular fluid, blood serum, seminal plasma, embryo culture supernatant, and embryo culture supernatant control obtained within the IVF process under approved protocols and written informed consent from participating patients. The SOP was developed at the Kinderwunsch Institut Schenk, Dobl, Austria, together with Biobank Graz of the Medical University of Graz, Austria.

Methods

The SOP provides comprehensive details of laboratory procedures and sampling of the different fluids within the IVF process. Furthermore, information on sample coding, references of involved laboratory techniques (e.g., oocyte retrieval with a Steiner-TAN needle), ethical approvals, and biobanking procedures are presented.

Results

The result of the present study is a standard operating procedure.

Conclusions

The SOP ensures a professional way for collection and scientific use of IVF samples by the Kinderwunsch Institut Schenk, Dobl, Austria, and Biobank Graz of the Medical University of Graz, Austria. It can be used as a template for other institutions to unify specimen collection procedures in the field of reproductive health research.