In order to implement the innovative program of the World-Class Research Centre for Personalized Medicine, Almazov Centre established a new division of the Biobank at the Scientific and Educational Medical and Biological Centre for Gifted Youth “Solnechny”. This new facility will carry out high-tech processing, labeling and safe storage of biological collections obtained in the course of research as part of WCRC activities.
In particular, the collections of unique samples will form the basis for the effective functioning of the Competence Centre for Hereditary, Rare and Understudied Diseases established in 2021 as part of the World-Class Research Centre. The created collections of biological samples will serve to implement the main research goals: identification of new specific genetic determinants of congenital diseases and the molecular mechanisms of their development; creation of experimental cell and animal models for testing new genetically engineered and gene therapy drugs for the treatment of hereditary diseases; the use of breakthrough genetic technologies, including eQTL mapping; assessment of expression and epigenetic profiling in order to reveal new phenotypic mechanisms of genetic breakdowns and the development of drugs targeting these mechanisms; creation of a scientific and clinical biomedical ecosystem that develops and implements diagnostic and treatment technologies based on personalized medicine, including disease biomodelling; genome modification and creation of gene therapy drugs and biomedical cell products using genome editing technologies to improve the quality of treatment and reduce mortality in various genetically determined cardiovascular, autoimmune as well as rare and understudied diseases.
Biobanking is a vital component of research, and the availability of a biobank as a unit opens up tremendous opportunities for basic, exploratory and applied research both in various fields of biomedicine and at the intersection of fields, which is recognized worldwide.
