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Press Release - for immediate release

25 October 2006

UK Biobank and Long Term Management of Samples at -80ºC - TAP Speaks at Biobanking and Biorepositories, Basel Switzerland

At this year’s Biobanking and Biorepositories event Dr Peter Woods, TAP Product Development Manager, spoke about the Challenges and Industrialised Solutions for Long Term Management of Samples at -80ºC.

Peter’s presentation featured the UK Biobank project, which requires the storage of ten million individual sample vessels at -80°C over a projected period of up to 25 years. The UK Biobank represents an extreme case of a biological sample stewardship problem, where the logistical, informatic and technical challenges become acute due to the scale of the inventory, order pattern complexity and draw-down rate.

Peter’s presentation also included information on Polar – TAP’s automated system which meets these challenges. His talk demonstrates how key issues such as controlling access to samples, ensuring operator safety, validating sample identity, efficient random access to samples, and ensuring short term and long term continuity of storage conditions have been addressed by The Automation Partnership.

Peter also showed how TAP has combined the application of proven principles and novel engineering with the company’s experience in automated compound management to address the new challenges posed by the low temperature environment.

For further information, please contact:

York Way, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 5WY, UK
Tel: +44 1763 227200 Fax: +44 1763 227201

York Way, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 5WY, UK
Tel: +44 1763 227200 Fax: +44 1763 227201

For more information on biobanking and Polar, visit

Polar - System Overview

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