Lifelines, a project hosted by the University Medical Centre Groningen's Biobank in the Netherlands, has installed a Smartstore from RTS Life Science as its DNA sample storage and handling solution.
Marcel Bruinenberg, manager of the Lifelines Research Laboratory at the university, said: 'For our DNA samples, we were looking for a compact automated storage solution drawing on proven technology.
'As there is only one DNA collection round, 165,000 samples will be the ceiling number for Lifelines.
'Smartstore actually has excess capacity, but a sample collection of this size still rules out manual methods.
'Smartstore eliminates human error and gives great flexibility in both loading and retrieval,' he added.
The system is designed to deliver reliable automated sample management through the integration of a precisely controlled cold environment, robotics and sample tracking software.
