South Korea Launches National Biobank of Normal Tissues from Deceased Donors to Advance Precision Medicine
核心洞察
The Korea National Institute of Health (搜索) will add normal organ tissues from deceased donors, such as hearts, to its Innovative Biobank Consortium Support Project to strengthen precision medicine research.
Normal tissues will serve as control data for comparison with diseased tissues, helping elucidate disease causes and progression tailored to individual genetic characteristics.
The project has secured 3,648 high-quality biospecimens and produced 46 SCI papers, 10 patents, 3 technology transfers, and 1 commercialization, with research productivity 3.1 times the national R&D average.
The Korea National Institute of Health (搜索) (KNIH), under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (搜索) (KDCA), announced on August 14 that it will newly add the field of normal tissues derived from deceased donors to the "Innovative Biobank Consortium Support Project," a move designed to strengthen the foundation for precision medicine research in South Korea.
The initiative addresses a longstanding limitation in biobanking: while the project has collected blood, tissue, DNA, and related information from patients with chronic cerebrovascular diseases, sarcoma (搜索), and hereditary developmental disorders, it has struggled to obtain normal organ tissues. These normal tissues are considered essential for accurately identifying the characteristics of diseased tissues through direct comparison with healthy tissue from the same organ.
Expanding the Collection Scope
Starting this year, the Institute will expand its collection scope to include normal organ tissues such as hearts obtained from deceased donors. The newly promoted "Cadaveric Normal Tissue Consortium," led by principal investigator Professor Oh Ji-won of the Yonsei University-Industry Foundation (also identified as the Yonsei University Office of Research Affairs and Business Development), will acquire normal tissues and related information to be used as control data for comparison with diseased tissues.
This comparative approach is expected to help elucidate the causes and progression of diseases and to support precision medicine research tailored to individual genetic characteristics. "Normal organ tissues are essential to accurately identify disease characteristics," the KDCA stated in its announcement.
A Decade of Biobank Development
The Innovative Biobank Project was first launched in 2016 targeting chronic cerebrovascular diseases, then expanded to include sarcoma (搜索) in 2021, and gynecologic cancers and hereditary developmental disorders in 2024. This year, with the gynecologic cancer (搜索) consortium ending, the project newly supports the cadaveric normal tissue consortium, aiming to establish a national research foundation that links both living and post-mortem human resources.
The Innovative Biobank Consortium currently operates across four areas: chronic cerebrovascular diseases, sarcoma (搜索), hereditary developmental disorders, and cadaveric normal tissues.
Research Output and Impact
As of the end of last year, a total of 3,648 high-quality human biospecimens—including DNA, plasma, serum, PBMC, and tissue—had been secured through the project. Of these, 1,645 specimens were distributed to domestic researchers for use in precision medicine studies.
The results to date include 46 SCI-indexed research papers, 10 patents, 3 technology transfers, and 1 case of commercialization. The number of international journal articles per 1 billion won of research funding stood at 5, which is 3.1 times higher than the national research and development project average of 1.6. The average impact factor (IF) of publications was 6.5, 5.8 times higher than the national R&D average of 1.12.
Notable technology transfers include digital therapeutics for dementia (搜索), self-care mental health management technology, and artificial intelligence-based content toxicity analysis technology. Among these, the digital therapeutic for dementia was successfully commercialized.
Broader National Biobank Infrastructure
According to the "National Human Bio-Resource Bank Annual Report," an additional 110,000 population-based and 50,000 disease-based human biospecimens were secured during 2025, bringing the cumulative total to 1.39 million specimens. As of the end of 2025, the cumulative number of specimen distributions to domestic research institutes and companies reached 5,854, and related patents totaled 246.
Jeon Jaepil, head of the Division of Future Healthcare Research at the Korea National Institute of Health (搜索), said, "The Innovative Biobank Consortium is a national research project that accelerates the practical application of precision medicine based on high-quality human resources and in-depth data," adding, "We will continue to support precision medicine research for rare and intractable diseases that will make a tangible impact on the public."