January 2024 11 Dear SAVA member Please note that Vethouse will close on Thursday, 21 December 2023 at 12:00 and resume business on 03 January 2024. SAVA wishes all its members and their families a joyous festive season and everything of the best for the year ahead. Kind regards Gert Steyn: Managing Director Geagte SAVV lid Neem asseblief kennis dat Vethuis sal sluit op Donderdag, 21 Desember 2023 om 12:00 en sal heropen op 03 Januarie 2024. Die SAVV wens alle lede en hul families ‘n wonderlike feestyd en alles van die beste vir die jaar wat voorlê. Vriendelike groete Gert Steyn: Besturende Direkteur Article BIOBANKING FOR ANIMAL HEALTH: STORING NATURAL TREASURES Juanita van Emmenes, Puseletso Johnston, Refiloe Malesa, Keneiloe Montsu Introduction The term ‘Biobanking’ currently does not have a clear definition, but it refers to collections of several biological specimens that will be linked to relevant information submitted with the sample that can be used in research (Annaratone et al., 2021). Collected samples from either plant, animal or human origin have been stored, but it was only in the 1990s that the practice was acknowledged (Labtoo, 2023). Veterinary Biobanks are collections of biological samples and related data, such as isolation date, species from which the sample was isolated and collected, registration data and surveys (De Souza et al., 2013). Thus, Biobanks are advantageous to enable scientists to better comprehend animal disease, create novel diagnostics and therapies, and integrate molecular genetic information into livestock breeding programs. Additionally, the primary functions of veterinary Biobanks include collecting, analysing, preserving, and storing biological samples as well as granting access to them. Recently, the Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research (ARC-OVR) Institute in Pretoria, South Africa established a Biobank to provide a secure facility for processing, storing, and maintaining quality biological samples within the Institute. An extension of the Biobank is located at the Transboundary Animal Diseases laboratory which hosts the disease-specific Biobanks for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as well as African swine fever (ASF). Under the guidance of the ISO 17025:2017 standard, the Institute can demonstrate its competence in providing high-quality samples as well as curation of metadata that is dependable. The ARC has ensured that procedures are in place to make sure that good practices are followed which includes curation of SOPs, quality manuals and material transfer forms. Why is creating a Biobank so important? To date, Biobanks remain a valuable tool used throughout the world to preserve both genetic resources and the world’s biodiversity, which is advantageous to improve research and diagnostics as well as infrastructure surrounding scientific investigations. The Biobank enables scientists or stakeholders to have access to high-quality biomaterials and their associated data for current and future research to link research data or determine what are the gaps in disease research. Having access to these biomaterials through a Biobank will reflect South Africa’s diversity when it comes to different samples and reduce the time and resources needed to collect biological samples. >>> 12
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