Two research teams from the National University of La Plata (UNLP) are working on a program that seeks to create a genomic biobank of the Argentine population, which will allow future work on decision-making in terms of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, reported this Tuesday that house of higher education. This is the Reference Program and Genomic Biobank of the Argentine Population (PoblAr), promoted by the Secretariat of Planning and Policies in Science, Technology and Innovation, of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Nation. PoblAr seeks to provide a reference database that is representative of the human diversity of our country. This information will be used in the future for decision-making regarding prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The program is structured into seven collection nodes distributed in different regions of the country. In the PBA node, located in the city of La Plata, coordinated by Dr. Graciela Bailliet, two research teams promote this national effort: the Multidisciplinary Institute of Cellular Biology (Imbice) belonging to the Faculty of Exact Sciences of the UNLP, Conicet and CIC and the Biochemical Research Institute of La Plata (Inibiolp) dependent on the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the UNLP and Conicet. Regarding the operation of the node, Graciela Bailliet pointed out that "the workflow begins in Inibiolp, where the process of collecting data and biological material is carried out and continues in Imbice, where we carry out the DNA extraction." Magalí Pellon Maison explained that "the call for volunteers is made through institutional dissemination channels, those who wish to participate can send an email to poblar@mincyt.gob.ar and from there they will be referred to the node closest to their place of residence." "Once the interview has been completed, the process of collecting data and biological material consists of taking a blood sample, from which the genetic material will be extracted, the anthropometric evaluation of the volunteer and the completion of different questionnaires. that allow us to know antecedents of anthropological and biomedical interest," explained the scientist. Pellon Maison highlighted that "from our laboratory, we provide PoblAr with a food consumption frequency questionnaire that allows us to estimate habitual intake. This tool was developed and validated within the framework of Dr. Olmedo's doctoral thesis."