Thermo has supplied Oncore UK, a collaboration by the UK's largest governmental and nongovernmental agencies in the fight against cancer, with specimen storage in the first UK national cancer biobank
Thermo Fisher Scientific has supplied Oncore UK (a new organisation set up by the Department of Health (England), the UK Medical Research Council, and Cancer Research UK) with a long-term specimen storage solution for use in establishing the UK's first national cancer biobank.
Speaking on "Biological sample management and quality systems in a human cancer tissue bank" at the 2007 Biobanking and Biorepositories Meeting in Amsterdam on April, Anne Carter, head of quality systems from Oncore UK, explained how SmartScan meets the stringent requirements in respect of sample storage, tracking, selection and retrieval criteria in line with international quality standards.
SmartScan 2D coded tubes and high speed bar coded readers were recently selected as the preferred long-term storage and retrieval solution for tissue, blood and urine samples in Oncore UK's cancer biobank initiative which is designed to increase the number of samples available for cancer research.
The tubes feature laser-etched SmartScan codes encapsulated in their bases which are resistant to liquid nitrogen and the freeze-thaw process, thereby providing a robust means of identification readable both by eye and high-speed automated scanning.
The code, in a 14x14 array, provides 3.6quadrillion unique codes, assuring an endless supply of code combinations.
"Longevity of sample storage is a key factor for the biobank, who anticipate that the samples will be stored and repeatedly accessed for several decades", commented Courtney Nicholson, biostorage product manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific.
"This means that other 2D codes which, unlike SmartScan, are fixed directly to the end of the tube could quite easily become damaged or deteriorate with time.
"Anne Carter's presentation highlighted how SmartScan storage has proved ideal for their needs."
