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v2026.1714 entries · CC-BY 4.0
Dictionary termTrack BStablev2026.2

Biorepository

A facility or organisation that collects, processes, stores, and distributes biological materials and their associated data for research, encompassing both human and non-human samples, distinguished from a 'biobank' by usage in some communities to denote broader scope or specific research projects.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board
· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

  • Is an instance

    A university's biorepository holding patient-derived xenograft mouse models and matched tumour specimens.

  • Is an instance

    An agricultural biorepository holding seed lines from crop-genetics research programmes.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

  • Not an instance

    A clinical-care pathology lab is not a research biorepository.

  • Not an instance

    An archive of published research papers is not a biorepository.

Editorial commentary

The terms biobank, biorepository, and repository" class="text-primary underline-offset-2 hover:underline" data-autolinked="true" title="Sample repository — CASRAI Dictionary">sample repository are used interchangeably in many communities; in others, ‘biorepository’ carries a broader connotation including animal models, plant material, microbial cultures, and environmental samples, while ‘biobank’ is reserved for human-focused collections. ISBER (International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories) maintains the most widely used best-practice document. Biorepositories typically issue accession numbers and, increasingly, IGSN-style PIDs for samples.

References

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Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element
xml
<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Biorepository"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/biorepository" />
Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)
json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Biorepository",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/biorepository",
  "description": "A facility or organisation that collects, processes, stores, and distributes biological materials and their associated data for research, encompassing both human and non-human samples, distinguished from a 'biobank' by usage in some communities to denote broader scope or specific research projects.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-data-infrastructure/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/biorepository",
  "sameAs": [],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Adopted by research universities worldwide

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  • University of Cambridge logo
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  • Harvard University logo
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology logo
  • University of Oxford logo
  • Princeton University logo
  • Stanford School of Medicine logo
  • University College London logo

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