Liquid Formulation Stabilizes Tissues and Cells at Room Temperature

A room temperature-based liquid formulation has been released for stabilization and storage of tissues and cells. It provides a new solution for room-temperature storage, archiving, stabilization, and transportation of biological specimens by preserving the quality and the quantity of genomic DNA in the samples.

Biomatrica's (San Diego, CA, USA) SampleMatrix technology platform, DNAgard, enables tissues and cells to be shipped and/or stored in a liquid format for at least 60 days at ambient room temperature without losing sample quality. An optional dry-down format permits room-temperature stabilization of DNA in tissues and cells for at least one year.

SampleMatrix is based on extremophile biology in which multicellular organisms are able to survive long term in a state of anhydrobiosis (life without water) and later be revived by rehydration. Extremophiles such as tardigrades, also known as water bears, are able to protect their DNA, RNA, proteins, membranes, and cells in a dried state for extended periods. Biomatrica's technology closely resembles the natural molecular mechanisms used by these organisms.

Tissues are currently transported in dry ice and stored at minus 80 °C until further processing. These cold shipping and storage methods are expensive, environmentally unfriendly, and take space in the freezer and in shipment. The shipping of a few tissue samples on dry ice requires a 4.5-kg package size, and costs an average of US$150 when shipped nationally. Using the DNAgard solution, these samples can be shipped at ambient temperature in an envelope for an average cost of only $10.

Biomatrica products utilizing SampleMatrix technology include DNAstable and DNAgard for DNA, RNAstable for RNA and CloneStable for bacterial DNA. Custom services to stabilize additional sample types such as proteins are also available. The company also offers SampleWare software, an easy-to-use, customizable laboratory management database that provides scientists with the means to store and organize their sample data, and directly supports samples stabilized by Biomatrica technology.

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