An Open Sample Policy for a European infrastructure for farmed animal genotype to phenotype research

As for open data, an open sample policy has to address the main questions related to the type of sample, storage conditions, safety issues, request procedure and regulatory issues. A template for a Biological Resources Management Plan (BRMP) is proposed to collect information on: what will be shared? (type and origin of samples, unique ID), where and how are the samples stored? are there any biological risks or specific regulations applying to the samples, are there sensitive issues? who are the expected users of the samples? for which purpose? how will the sharing take place?

Two main limitations are still encountered for sample sharing:

-unsufficient documentation, that is the reason why completion of metadata is so critical and supported by EuroFAANG RI

-ownership feeling of researchers on their samples which underlines the need for acknowledgements of samples providers as a mandatotry step for an open sample policy.