BioStorage Technologies said this week that it has initiated the "Integrity" study to measure the effect of time, temperature, and preparation methods on DNA and RNA samples.
The two-year study will analyze human whole blood samples, comparing fresh samples, frozen pre-extracted samples, and extracted nucleic acids, which require freeze/thaw cycles for processing. Investigators will also evaluate various storage temperatures and aliquoting strategies over the length of the study.
Existing research suggests that inexact sample preparation and storage methods may affect the results or analysis of biological studies and can lead to sample loss, reprocessing, or complicated data interpretation, BioStorage Technologies said. However, most studies to date have been designed to analyze the impact of a single temperature and have not been focused on the long-term effects of various temperatures, methods of freeze-thaw, and storage time on DNA and RNA integrity, the company added.
BioStorage Technologies, based in Indianapolis, Ind., provides sample management products for the bioscience industry.