Baobab Laboratory Information Management System: Development of an Open-Source Laboratory Information Management System for Biobanking

Abstract

A laboratory information management system (LIMS) is central to the informatics infrastructure that underlies biobanking activities. To date, a wide range of commercial and open-source LIMSs are available and the decision to opt for one LIMS over another is often influenced by the needs of the biobank clients and researchers, as well as available financial resources. The Baobab LIMS was developed by customizing the Bika LIMS software () to meet the requirements of biobanking best practices. The need to implement biobank standard operation procedures as well as stimulate the use of standards for biobank data representation motivated the implementation of Baobab LIMS, an open-source LIMS for Biobanking. Baobab LIMS comprises modules for biospecimen kit assembly, shipping of biospecimen kits, storage management, analysis requests, reporting, and invoicing. The Baobab LIMS is based on the Plone web-content management framework. All the system requirements for Plone are applicable to Baobab LIMS, including the need for a server with at least 8 GB RAM and 120 GB hard disk space. Baobab LIMS is a server–client-based system, whereby the end user is able to access the system securely through the internet on a standard web browser, thereby eliminating the need for standalone installations on all machines.

HEnRY: a DZIF LIMS tool for the collection and documentation of biomaterials in multicentre studies

“…We performed a comprehensive comparison of HEnRY with other LIMS based on information available on the respective product websites [ 27 – 32 ]. Since many LIMS concentrate on the documentation of laboratory work and storage, only some advertise study workflow support [ 27 , 29 , 33 – 35 ] and laboratory process management [ 28 ] to promote multi-site studies. The possibility of creating customized labels was advertised by only few LIMS vendors [ 27 , 28 , 32 ].…”

Towards better traceability of field sampling data

“…However, there are some open-source LIMS softwares that are worth mentioning: (Dondeh et al (2014)), (List et al (2015)), among which "Baobab" (Bendou et al (2017)), "EnzymeTracker" (Triplet and Butler (2012b)), "Specify" (http://specifyx.specifysoftware.org/), and "OpenSpecimen" (https:…”

Qualitative study of comprehension of heritability in genomics studies among the Yoruba in Nigeria

“…The H3Africa Consortium is a joint initiative of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG), United States' National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Wellcome Trust designed to "harness genomic technologies towards improving health in Africa" while contributing to global health [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. H3Africa also supports development of genomics research infrastructure and builds African capacity for genomics research through provision of training in diverse fields [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. The outcome of this initiative is an increase in the number of research projects focused on the genomic bases of diseases, phenotypic adaptations, pharmacogenomics and population histories in Africa [1-15, 30, 31].…”