April 22, 2025
About LabKey
If you manage a biobank, you know your needs go beyond basic lab sample tracking. While a traditional Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) helps organize samples and workflows, a Biobank LIMS is purpose-built for long-term biospecimen management, regulatory compliance, and data-rich research collaboration.
Here’s what sets a Biobank LIMS apart:
1. Designed for Biospecimen Stewardship
Biobank LIMS platforms are optimized for managing detailed biospecimen metadata—tracking collection methods, sample derivatives, and storage conditions. They support complex relationships, such as parent-child samples (e.g., whole blood > plasma > extracted DNA), which many standard LIMS systems don’t handle out of the box.
2. Regulatory and Ethical Oversight
Managing donor consent, usage restrictions, and data privacy are essential to biobanking. A Biobank LIMS typically includes built-in tools to manage consent status, audit trails, and compliance with standards like HIPAA, GDPR, and ISBER best practices.
3. Built for Long-Term Storage and Traceability
Biobanks often store specimens for years—sometimes decades. Biobank softwares often provide robust freezer mapping, temperature monitoring integrations, and alerts for degradation risk or reconsent timelines.
4. Powerful Querying and Distribution Tools
Biobank users often need to locate highly specific sample subsets. Need to find all plasma samples from donors over 50, collected post-2019, with open-use consent? A Biobank LIMS can handle complex queries and streamline sample request, approval, and distribution workflows—making it easier to serve internal and external research partners.
5. Chain of Custody and Provenance Tracking
Tracking where a sample came from, who accessed it, and how it’s been used is critical. Biobank LIMS platforms prioritize full traceability, ensuring you can answer every stewardship and compliance question with confidence.
Bottom line: A Biobank LIMS like LabKey LIMS goes far beyond traditional lab software. It’s designed for the complex, long-term, and highly regulated world of biorepositories—helping you protect your specimens, support researchers, and stay compliant.
