Biobanks and their importance in the clinical and scientific fields related to Spanish biomedical research

The reality of biomedical research in Spain requires having an updated knowledge of the research reality and its ethical/legal framework. Research studies with human biological samples should be made with a sufficiently large number of samples to reflect the diversity of the human population, which meets the standard requirements to ensure optimum quality of the research results for further development. Furthermore, research with humans, and obtaining and/or deriving human biological samples and clinical research studies information is subject to a number of legal requirements and restrictions. Biobanks and biobank networks are established as the optimal structures that favor the storage of large volumes of human biological samples based on criteria to ensure their optimum quality, harmonization and security, respecting at all times, the ethical and legal requirements guaranteeing the rights of citizens.