A national storage facility for tissue samples and other items that have to be stored at very low temperatures has been set up by BOC.
The BOC Cryobank facility uses Drystore freezers that offer high sample security and operator safety, as the storage area is completely free of liquid nitrogen.
The nitrogen is instead housed in a jacket that surrounds the chamber, which means that temperature performance down to -190C can be achieved.
As no liquid nitrogen comes into contact with the samples, the risk of cross-contamination is minimised.
When up to full capacity, the BOC Cryobank will be able to hold over 500,000 2ml vials.
BOC expects the service to be of interest particularly to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, as well as research labs in the university sector.
It is designed to relieve researchers of the burden of continually maintaining the samples in perfect conditions.
