The Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL) has officially opened registration for the 2017 edition of its Biospecimen Proficiency Testing programme, an internationally-recognised quality assessment tool.

Endorsed by the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), the Proficiency Testing (PT) programme offers laboratories working with biospecimens the opportunity to verify the accuracy, precision and efficiency of their routine methods and compare their performance to that of other expert laboratories. 

“The PT programme is an integral part of a biobank laboratory’s quality management system. Yearly participation is essential to ensure monitoring and prove consistency of performance over time”, said Dr Olga Kofanova, IBBL’s PT Project Manager.

As the only proficiency testing programme in the world that focuses on biospecimens, IBBL’s PT programme has become increasingly popular over the last five years. In 2016, roughly 100 laboratories from 26 countries registered for a total of 354 schemes.

Registration will remain open until 11 August 2017. 

Members of the processing schemes are: 

CSF Aliquoting

Viable PBMC Isolation

DNA Extraction from Whole Blood

DNA Extraction from FFPE Cells

DNA Extraction from Frozen Tissue

Microbial DNA Extraction from Saliva

Microbial DNA Extraction from Stool

Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Extraction from Whole Blood

RNA Extraction from Whole Blood

RNA Extraction from FFPE cells

Total RNA Extraction from Frozen Tissue

 

There are eight testing schemes:

DNA Quantification and Purity

RNA Quantification and Purity

RNA Integrity

Cell Viability

Haemoglobin Quantification in Plasma

CSF Haemoglobin Quantification

CD40 Ligand Quantification in Serum

Tissue Histology