Cold chain shipping costs will be reduced by adopting Biomatrica’s technology, according to BioStorage Technologies, because it reduces reliance on freezers. This furthers the firm's initiatives to adopt green technologies and provides clients with an alternative method of storing samples.

The technology supports “a highly sustainable environment that scales with growing sample inventory", according to Judy Muller-Cohn, CEO of Biomatrica, who believes BioStorage Technologies can now provide “a uniquely integrated solution”.

Clients choosing to use Biomatrica’s dry storage technology will have their samples kept in a security-controlled, stable humidity environment. BioStorage Technologies is also offering existing clients the option to transfer their samples from frozen to room temperature storage.

In addition, samples will be tracked and monitored in real-time using BioStorage Technologies’s inventory management system, ISISS. This is a web-based system that gives clients additional control over sample shipping and reporting, according to BioStorage Technologies.

The storage process

Biomatrica’s technology is based on anhydrobiosis, a biological mechanism that allows some eukaryotic extremophiles to survive while dry for up to 120 years. Using synthetic, chemistry-based stabilisation technology Biomatrica has adopted this mechanism to create SampleMatrix.

This preserves biological materials by forming a protective thermo-stable barrier during an air-drying process. The barrier effectively shrink-wraps the sample, protecting it from degradation.

When the sample is rehydrated the barrier dissolves within minutes. This process prevents degradation, maintains biological activity and leaves the recovered sample ready for downstream processing without the need for further purification, according to Biomatrica.

Furthermore, Biomatrica claims that samples stored using its technology allow scientists to obtain more reproducible and reliable experimental results.