Theme 4: bio-archive
Background: WHY WE NEED A BIO-ARCHIVE
New or rare germs in blood donors are often flagged as safety risks by the UK Blood Services and SACTTI (a Government advisory group on infections). It is important to check donors quickly for certain viruses or other germs. This helps create strong evidence to judge the risk of spreading disease. Information from anonymous testing can guide decisions—sometimes we take no action, sometimes we screen certain groups, and in rare cases, we test everyone and block donations that test positive.
Being able to start large-scale testing fast is key to national disease tracking and keeping blood safe from infection. This work adds to what the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and global health bodies are doing.
Building the Bio-Archive Database
To meet this goal, we created a system to collect and store plasma for many years. Plasma is the liquid part of blood. It carries blood cells, proteins, and other materials. Plasma holds a lot of health information and can help study diseases and health markers.
Right now, we focus on two types of collections in the bio-archive: Mini-pools and CODONET. Every month we recover extra samples from about 200 mini-pools (400 from May to October) from blood and platelet donors. These mini-pools come from the Filton processing site, following a set procedure. We do not include pools with HIV, HBV, HCV, or HEV, found by NAT testing.
All samples are made anonymous and unlinked before going to the Oxford Bio-Archive at the John Radcliffe Hospital. We store them in small, 2D-barcoded FluidX tubes. These tubes are good for long storage, save space, and work with the robots we use in the lab to speed up our work. An SQL database helps us find samples fast, so we can start wide testing if needed.
Future Plans
Because of climate change and increased travel, we expect more outbreaks. The Bio-Archive is a valuable national tool. It helps us understand, stop, and manage disease by keeping biological samples over time and from different groups.
With help from the NHSBT donor network, we can spot new blood-borne viruses sooner. This will help keep the UK blood supply safe