Biobanks have during
last two decades gained an important role in the whole process of biomedical
research and health care not only in Europe but also worldwide. Biobanks are
one of the pillars in personalised medicine tackling all its aspects such as
prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring closely the specific
characteristics of an individual patient. The current and future power of
biobanks is the amount of samples of high-quality and related information
available for current and future research of diseases, for optimising patients´
prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. The material stored in
biobanks is a treasure for future technologies that will be able to utilise the
currently uncovered information and knowledge. A great and growing number of
samples and related information also opens new ways in how to tackle the big data
problems and population studies. Biobanks play a substantial role in drug
discovery, development and validation. Biobanks are not only an issue of
biomedical research, but are becoming a public issue involving patients, to
actively participate in biobanking with respect to ethical, legal and social
issues. And, finally, biobanking as a multidisciplinary and modern field of
science requires appropriate education at all levels of society. To be a world
leader in the field of biobanking requires wide international and
interdisciplinary collaboration. The topic-dedicated programmes released by the
European Commission sustainably support biobank development in Europe and the
main tool is the biggest European Union (EU) research and innovation programme
ever—Horizon 2020. This article reviews the main Horizon 2020 biobanking
projects, financing schemes and the future perspectives.