Del Williams*
Upright liquid nitrogen biorepositories:
Upright LN2 freezers remove the risk of direct contact with liquid nitrogen associated with cryovats, while eliminating the compressor and refrigerant design utilised in most biorepositories.
I
safe, reliable and controllable
n the pharmaceutical and medical
industries, cryogenic freezers are utilised as biorepositories for the long-term preservation of biospecimens such as tissue, blood, plasma or urine. These biorepositories are essentially ‘libraries’ where biospecimens are stored for clinical or research purposes. Consequently, biorepositories are vital for understanding diseases and genetics; developing prophylactic and therapeutic agents; and monitoring human population health including outcomes related to environmental exposures. With so much at stake, the failure of a cryogenic freezer to properly maintain biological samples at the required temperatures can be potentially catastrophic and costly. In addition, personnel need to be protected when storing or retrieving samples that are stored at extremely low cryogenic temperatures. The challenge is that conventional options for biorepositories — traditional stainless steel vats (cryovats) that contain LN2, and compressorbased systems — pose significant disadvantages in terms of safety, reliability and temperature control. In response, a new category of upright
6 | LAB+LIFE SCIENTIST - Aug/Sep 2022
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