In Cardiff University's Medical Microbiology Department, frozen cell, virus and plasmid samples are labelled using Brady's Freezerbondz ID system, which withstands long-term, low-temperature storage.
'One of our main projects involves looking at how herpes viruses such as Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) manage to evade the immune system and persist in the body following a primary infection,' said Dr Carole Rickards, laboratory manager for infection, immunity and biochemistry in the Medical Microbiology Department of Cardiff University.
'HCMV is the major viral cause of congenital malformation and is associated with life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals.
'It is a causative agent of hepatitis, colitis, post-transplantation arteriosclerosis and infectious mononucleosis.
'One of the ways we study this important pathogen is by putting HCMV genes into Adenovirus.
'Our banks of more than 800 cell lines stored in liquid nitrogen, as well as frozen plasmid and virus samples at -20C and -70C, form a vital resource for research.
'We use Brady's Freezerbondz labels, which are printed using the BBP11 thermal transfer printer, to ensure that the data for each sample remains legible and intact during long-term storage at low temperatures,' she added.
Brady's BBP11 thermal transfer printer provides fast 300dpi printing on a wide range of materials.
Freezerbondz labels are legible and durable and can be applied to frozen surfaces including glass and polypropylene stored in liquid nitrogen.
Brady's Identilab labelling software supports database import and 2D or linear bar coding, while set-up wizards help create new files and templates.
'Brady Freezerbondz labels stick to already frozen surfaces,' said Dr Rickards.
'This has enabled us to replace old handwritten cryovial labels with new, clear printed information, to safeguard sample identities in our cell, plasmid and virus banks.
'The BBP11 thermal transfer printer is a useful tool, making fast work of printing multiple copies so that labelling 10 identical samples is no longer a time consuming and potentially error-prone task.
'The printed labels have plenty of space to include all the information we need and the clear text means there will be no misinterpretation of data in the future,' she added.
