SNBTS Membership of Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  SNBTS collection of Volunteer Blood Donor DNA samples for blood group genotyping by the Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium (BGC).

• IRAS ID

  321854

• Contact name

  Jennifer Laird

• Contact email

  Jennifer.laird@nhs.scot

• Sponsor organisation

  SNBTS

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 1 months, 23 days

• Research summary

  SNBTS have been accepted to join the International Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium (BGC), an international partnership between blood services, research institutions and industry leaders. The aim of this group is to improve the safety and efficiency of blood and platelet transfusion matching by introducing DNA testing into routine transfusion practice.
  Volunteer donors who provide specific informed consent will be asked to donate a small blood sample, at the same time as their regular blood donation, for genetic testing to determine blood group information and support development of new methods of matching blood between donors and recipients. Blood group testing is currently performed on all donor samples using traditional laboratory techniques, which are limited in scope and labour-intensive.
  Donors who consent to join this project will be listed in a confidential BGC database. This database may be used in the future to identify donated blood as a suitable match for a patient with a specific requirement for matched blood. The database contents will be anonymised (ie any information identifying particular people will be removed) but will contain blood type results as determined by genetic testing as well as the blood type information from previous traditional testing. This anonymised blood group information will be shared with the consortium to allow comparison between both sets of data. Approved SNBTS researchers will also be able to access this confidential database to support development of this testing and provide closer matched blood for patients who require it.

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/YH/0103

• Date of REC Opinion

  28 Apr 2023

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion