Founder's Message - Sustainable Biological Sample Storage
As scientists and members of our global community, we are constantly looking for new ways to conserve energy. Many scientific organizations, including universities and biobanks, are facing a growing challenge with sustainable biological sample storage. The numerous ultra-low and low temperature freezers used to store samples require significant energy, space and resources to maintain.

Biomatrica is pleased to report that a recent collaboration with a prominent California academic institution has validated Biomatrica's room temperature biostability technology for use as an alternative to freezer storage. The pilot program commissioned by this university has shown that a dramatic reduction in energy costs and carbon footprint can be achieved after transferring samples to the Biomatrica technology as well as implementing for all new samples. The risk of sample loss can be eliminated and laboratory is no longer dependant on vulnerable freezer storage. Costly and environmentally unfriendly dry ice usage for shipments is also no longer needed. The ability to save millions in direct costs, as well as free up additional space for research labs, also adds to the attractiveness of moving towards Biomatrica's room temperature storage system. We are proud of our opportunity to improve the sustainability of sample storage and would like to share further details on the pilot program and the associated analysis. Please read the article below and visit http://www.biomatrica.com/sustainability.php to learn more. I am always interested in hearing from you and can be reached at research@biomatrica.com.

Best regards,
Rolf Muller, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Scientific Officer




Quick Green Facts


Two ultra-low temperature freezers use as much energy in a year as a single-family home

The typical research institution houses over 2,000 freezers for the storage of biological samples

Converting storage of these samples to Biomatrica's secure sample technology could offset the institute's annual carbon emissions by 3,613 metric tons, the equivalent of taking 600 cars off the road

New
Application Notes

Performance of DNAstable® with the Illumina® Human 610 BeadChip™

STRboost: A Novel STR Amplification Enhancer

microRNA (miRNA) Stabilization in RNAstable®

DNA Extraction
and Storage

Do you store tissue to use in downstream DNA or RNA sample extraction? Biomatrica is currently developing a new product for room temperature collection and storage of tissues that preserves DNA or RNA and we would appreciate your feedback.

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Customer Case Study - Pilot Sustainability Program


Recently, a major California university completed a pilot project to evaluate a novel technology that promises to reduce energy consumption, achieve sustainability pilot goals, and optimize laboratory space. Using Biomatrica's proprietary stabilization technology, biological samples that are typically stored frozen can be stored at room temperature. Laboratories can reduce dependency on costly freezers and thus reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint. The pilot was designed to assess the current economic and environmental impact of freezer-based storage, provide "hands-on" experience with this new technology, and extrapolate the potential benefit of room-temperature sample storage to the entire campus.

In the pilot, there were between 9 and 13 million samples identified campus-wide as candidates to transfer to room temperature storage technology. After a validation of Biomatrica's technology to store DNA, RNA, and DNA clone samples at room temperature, a comprehensive analysis of the environmental and financial impact of storing samples in Biomatrica's system instead of freezers was completed. It is estimated that over 10 years, the university will potentially:

  • Save over 200,000 million BTU energy
  • Reduce carbon footprint by over 18,000 tons CO
  • Realize a net cost savings of up to $16 million


    • Overall, there was an enthusiastic response and participation by over twenty laboratories within the schools of Medicine and Department of Biology within this university. The program is now under implementation.

    Learn more about this university's findings:
    http://www.biomatrica.com/sustainability_resources.php



    Featured Product - DNAstable®

    DNAstable® enables you to store plasmid and genomic DNA samples at room temperature. When you are ready to use your samples, 100% of the DNA can be recovered in 10 minutes or less and then used directly in downstream applications.

  • Zero sample degradation means increased reproducibility


  • Room temperature stability significantly decreases storage and transport costs


  • DNAstable is available in multiple formats to accommodate workflows, including microtubes, 96-well plates, 96-well alphanumeric tube plates and 384-well plates


    • Learn more at: http://www.biomatrica.com/dnastable.php






    news


    Biomatrica recently won an award at the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) Conference in Portland, Oregon for the poster:
    "Samples stabilization at room temperature: From Collection to Storage."


    Biomatrica was featured in:

    Evidence Technology Magazine, "How to Improve Recovery of DNA Profiles"

    Nature Methods, "Biobanking: freezer burn"

    Chemical & Engineering News, "Laboratory Management Software Takes On the
    Data Explosion in Life Sciences"




    events

    Visit us at:

    LABS21 2009 Annual Conference, September 22-24, 2009, Indianapolis, Indiana, Booth #48

    PROMEGA, October 12-15, 2009, JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa at Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada



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