Common practice to handle fresh biological samples in biobanks is paraformaldehyde-fixing and paraffin-embedding tissues which are deep-frozen for long term preservation.
The operation costs of freezer systems are very high. Due to energy consumption, need of space, need of emergency equipment needed in case of mechanical failures and/or power outages.
Given the growth expectations of biological sample collections, which increasingly demands more energy, space and money to maintain, a sustainable alternative is needed to slow freezer demand.
We are looking for non-freezer-dependent storage technologies as alternatives to current practices that promise to reduce energy consumption, space demands and escalating costs generated by laboratories storing samples in frozen environments.
Alternative methods to handle and store biological samples at room temperature are needed. These solutions should be in line with common legalized, standardised procedures in Europe.
Specifications / requirements (Auflistung):
• Technological:
obtaining a substance or conservation flow for a sample that is collected in the operation room and has to be stabilised quickly without infrastructure that does not exist in that room
• Organisational:
when changing the procedure in a public hospital, it is understood that it requires a defined protocol, in addition to the adaption of several professionals involved. The solution should address an organisational level, creating a flow of fresh sample collection and storage
• Health:
today, many of the markers are made using techniques adapted to paraffin. If we do not want to duplicate the type of sample, we would have to adapt these protocols to the new techniques we are talking about. They exist and can be applied, but they can be more expensive and in the short term still not add enough information to be worth the increased costs
• Adaption of competencies in the field of Primary Care and the corresponding services
Key words
• Fresh biological samples preservation
• Pathology departments
• Biobanks
• Molecular biology techniques
• Sample collection flow
• Sample collection costs
• Intact DNA, RNA, proteins and metabolites samples Precision medicine

Minimum Stage of Development
1 Under development/ lab tested
1 Field tested / evaluated
1 Prototype available for demonstration
1 Available for demonstration
1 Already on the market