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