The JAZMP announced on Monday that the temperature within the cryopreservation cabinets at GaiaCell, the facility housing stored biological materials from the bankrupt Biobank, surpassed the critical threshold of -140 degrees Celsius. This temperature breach specifically impacted the samples that were not successfully transferred or donated by the respective owners. According to JAZMP director Momir Radulović, this failure indicates that the affected samples are considered destroyed.
Radulović provided an estimate that approximately two-thirds of the 4,000 samples held within the bankrupt biobank were lost, while an estimated 1,300 samples were successfully relocated. He noted that these figures were estimates and not exact counts. The continued storage of these materials necessitates a consistent supply of liquid nitrogen.
Adding to the operational instability, the company GaiaCell recently terminated its contract with a gas supplier, a move reportedly prompted by outstanding payment issues. It is noted that the owners of the samples had previously contributed funds intended for the ongoing maintenance and storage of these valuable biological assets. The incident highlights significant operational risks facing the biobank.
The failure of the specialized cryogenic storage system has resulted in the potential loss of a substantial portion of the stored samples, emphasizing the critical dependency of such facilities on stable infrastructure and continuous resource management.
Topics: #samples #biobank #destroyed
