Battleangel

The definition of a biobank is a little blurry but essentially it is nothing more than human tissue/fluid samples, kept in cold storage. In reality it is part of a larger picture known as human bio-collections. The other two components of bio-collections are genetic data (derived from the samples) and personal records (being able to backtrack the data as well as medical history).

Anyway. The reason I bring this up is because of recent events here in Sweden. As reported by most newspapers (haven’t been able to find an english translation yet).
In summary, the Swedish police used biobank records to secure the identity of the person held for the slaying of foreign minister Anna Lindh. I haven’t bothered to comment on her death because I didn’t feel it was important. Until now. The biobank records are kept on the terms that they are ONLY to be used for research purposes. They are not to be handed over to private interests and certainly not to the judicial system or any other government agency. It is the only way to guarantee that people would be willing to “donate” (not that anyone was given a clear choice) samples to the registry.

Again. Thanks mass hysteria, politicians and common people’s stupidity (the police), the basis for the largest biobank in the world has been annihilated. Thank you very much.
After recent events it is logical to attempt to purge the collection of all personal details xor samples. After all, as long as you are a suspect for a reasonable severe crime (minimum time two years) it seems that there is open season on your personal integrity.

More information on the subject of gene banking:

GeneWatch UK: HUMAN BIOCOLLECTIONS
Uppsala University: Research Program Ethics in Biomedicine