Biobanks, which store biological samples, such as blood, DNA, tissue and cells and the data extracted from them, rarely have large enough collections to fully support new research. In addition, the specialised nature of many biobanks means that numerous groups of researchers, at a national and international level, may benefit from access to their samples. It is therefore important for biobanks to make samples available to the research community.

This project aims to identify the problems associated with sharing data and samples between Swiss biobanks, with a particular focus on questions of justice and territoriality. Stakeholders of Swiss biobanks will be interviewed, in order to collect detailed information about possible barriers and solutions to sharing between biobanks.