LANSING - The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) announced plans Monday to proceed with the development of a population-based biobank that could open the door for advanced medical breakthroughs such as improving newborn screening, identifying disorders faster and diagnosing chronic diseases earlier by using leftover newborn blood samples for research.

The Michigan BioTrust for Health is an initiative to make leftover dried blood samples used for newborn screening more readily available for researchers once screening is complete. Other partners in the BioTrust are Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the Van Andel Institute (VAI) in Grand Rapids.

"The Michigan BioTrust for Health is an initiative that will help create a healthier Michigan," said MDCH Director Janet Olszewski. "The access researchers will have to residual dried blood samples will help further medical and public health research and it could lead to groundbreaking medical discoveries."

The BioTrust's roots are planted in the state's Newborn Screening (NBS) program, which began in 1965 in the MDCH Bureau of Laboratories. Newborn screening is an important and successful population-based public health program that has prevented disabilities and saved the lives of more than 4,000 Michigan babies. MDCH screens for 49 disorders on just a few drops of blood, usually obtained from a newborn's heel. A comprehensive system provides not only screening, but follow-up to ensure appropriate medical management for affected children and to monitor long-term outcomes.

Once screening is complete in the state laboratory, leftover dried blood spot samples that are no longer needed for testing are stripped of all identifying information and stored in the Michigan Neonatal Biobank. A 501(c) 3 non-profit charitable organization, the biobank is contracted to serve as the repository for storage and management of the samples in a temperature-controlled facility at Wayne State University's Biobanking Center of Excellence in TechTown.

"The Michigan Neonatal Biobank is a welcome addition to Tech Town's Center of Excellence in Biobanking," said Randal Charlton, executive director at TechTown. "Together with the other biobanks at TechTown, the Michigan Neonatal Biobank will help create a new industry for Southeast Michigan."

In the early 1980s, the state was required to keep dried blood samples for 21.5 years. Now they are stored indefinitely. As scientific interest in the use of biobanks increased over the last several years, the MDCH laboratory began to explore the usefulness of residual samples, take steps to better preserve them, and formalize policies for their use that are acceptable to the public.

MDCH, with support from community-based volunteers, MSU Center for Ethics in the Humanities and Life Sciences, and the UM Center for Public Health and Community Genomics, has explored public opinion through focus groups and a random statewide telephone poll of more 3,000 Michigan adults. A substantial majority of residents supports the idea of using leftover newborn screening samples for research on childhood conditions, adult-onset diseases and potentially harmful environmental substances. In addition, a community values advisory board will guide MDCH in the development of BioTrust policies.

"By teaming with state health departments and utilizing existing blood spot archives, we hope to improve our understanding of diseases that are not immediately apparent at birth, but have roots in the perinatal period," said James Resau, Ph.D., distinguished scientific investigator, deputy director for special programs, and director of the Division of Quantitative Sciences at VAI. "Measuring the relative abundance of thousands of expressed genes from universally collected neonatal blood spots may open new avenues of research into perinatal markers and determinants of disease development."

One of five partners in the Michigan BioTrust for Health, VAI provides the custom - designed BioTrust Interface with which the trust plans to archive about 4 million blood spots. The BioTrust Interface utilizes a database and software system developed by VAI researchers and technicians known as the Van Andel Tissue Repository (VATR). VATR is designed to track biological samples and all data derived from or related to the samples.

TechTown is an urban community of entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, mentors and corporate partners creating an internationally influential village in Detroit. TechTown brings the resources of Wayne State University to high-technology startup companies to diversify and strengthen Michigan's economy in high-growth emerging industries. For more information, visit www.techtownwsu.org.

For more information about BioTrust visit www.michigan.gov/newbornscreening.