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360º PERSPECTIVES | ISSUE 7 | 2020/2021
Book reviews
Banking bioscience for the future EFORE THE 1990s, field research in
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human biosciences involved researchers gathering samples from volunteers for later study in the laboratory. Depending on the resources of the institution, the valuable samples were usually stored for no longer than the duration of the study, after which researchers disposed of them according to the ethical rules of their institution or applicable legislation. Usually, other scientists had no access to the samples and were entirely reliant on the rigour and accuracy of the researchers, as reflected in their published results. This methodology is often costly, inefficient and slow, limits upscaling and can affect an experiment’s reproducibility (that is, another researcher getting the same results by repeating the experiment).
Thanks to the rapid development of bioinformatics (a specialist discipline involving biology, mathematics and computer science) and biobanking, institutions such as UWC’s South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) have vastly expanded access to collected samples for research and to the data derived from such study. A biobank is a secure storage facility that functions as an archive of organic samples collected for research. Given that many of the samples are human (blood, tissue, saliva, urine, DNA), there are ethical questions involved in biobanking, not least of which are who owns the sample once it is collected, how it is stored and used and, was the donor able to give informed consent. After recognising the need for public engagement and education regarding these issues, SANBI recently published Biobanking and Me, a bilingual audio book (English-Xhosa and English-Afrikaans versions) and accompanying video. Using simple illustrated texts, the book aims to educate children and adults about the ethics, purpose and importance of biobanking. Before the project was finalised, the language content was critiqued by about 100 native speakers of the three regional languages, who were all non-academic UWC staff members. “Members of communities who are donors of biological samples are essential stakeholders in health research, and meaningful engagement which increases knowledge allows these donors to make informed decisions,” says SANBI’s Director, Professor Alan Christoffels. “The value of creating and increasing public understanding of science through such engagement platforms cannot be overestimated.”
