Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 30912674
Biopreserv Biobank. 2019 Aug;17(4):352-354
Up to the present time, tissue samples are mostly stored fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin or as frozen samples. However, the direct extraction and storage of DNA is also common in biobanks. This reduces turn-around time, requires less space, and is more convenient for customers who are interested in genomics research. Routinely, DNA is stored in an aqueous solution (in water or low-percentage Tris-EDTA [TE] buffer) in −80°C freezers or in nitrogen tanks. Unfortunately, storage at ultra-low temperature has some requirements for fail-safe storage and complicated and costly backup systems are required to guarantee sample integrity.1 To reduce costs and facilitate storage of DNA samples, storage at room temperature is therefore becoming increasingly popular.2 To allow long-term storage and maintain DNA stability, lyophilized DNA is most commonly used. Furthermore, Imagene (Evry, France) has developed another system based on sample encapsulation of dried DNA in watertight, oxidation-proof DNAshell metal minicapsules.3 The purified DNA is preserved under a controlled, anhydrous, and anoxic atmosphere. Consequently, DNAshells allow the long-term storage of dried DNA at ambient temperature without the need of complicated backup systems. Furthermore, more than 200,000 samples can be stored in a small laboratory area of ∼3 m2. Finally, the establishment of a duplicated DNA collection in different biobanks using the Imagene DNAshell system has been recently demonstrated.4