The Governance Framework of North American Biobanks: A Rapidly Evolving Policy Patchwork

In recent years, a growing number of biobanks and associated research projects have emerged in North America. This paper intends to map out the governance framework of biobanks in Canada and the United Sates (US). The governance of biobanks can be characterized as a threefold enterprise: legal instruments, such as legislation and case law will apply to many biobank processes and activities; ethics codes and institutional policies provide a source of non-binding governance rules; and finally, biobanks themselves often develop their own governance policies.