Cryogenic Storage Across the UK

A new national storage facility for tissue samples and other items that have to be stored at very low temperatures has
been set up by BOC, the UK’s largest medical and industrial gases supplier.

The BOC Cryobank facility uses state-of-the-art DryStore freezers. These offer exceptional sample security and operator safety as the storage area is completely free of liquid nitrogen. Instead, the liquid nitrogen is housed in a jacket that surrounds the chamber, which means that temperature performance down to – 190°C can be achieved. As no liquid nitrogen comes into contact with the samples, the risk of cross-contamination is minimised. When up to full capacity, the BOC Cryobank will be able to hold over half a million 2ml vials.

BOC, a member of The Linde Group, expects the service to be of interest particularly to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, as well as research labs in the university sector. It relieves researchers of the burden of continually maintaining the samples in perfect conditions. BOC, who have over a century of experience in handling cryogenic liquids, is able to ensure optimum conditions for as long as storage is required by customers.

“Ensuring the safe and secure storage of research samples is vital in today’s multi-million pound medical research environment,” noted Elton Chapman, BOC Healthcare Business Manager. “Through discussions with a number of our customers we had become aware of a need for this type of facility. We brought together experts from a number of fields, including engineering, cryogenics and software development to engineer this facility which is unique in the UK.”