Shipping Samples for NGS

How you ship your samples can be the difference between a failed a passed QC result, the following steps and tips will ensure your project goes as smoothly as possible. As menial is it may seem, shipping is an important process in a researcher’s project.

·         Place sealed individual microcentrifuge tubes in a 50ml disposable screw up tube for additional insulation during shipment. To prevent sample tubes from moving during shipment, pack any remaining space in the 50ml tube with clean tissue paper prior to sealing.

·         What should you include in the shipment?

1.       The samples (yeah, I know, but it’s happened before).

2.       Ice pack for DNA or dry ice for RNA (with Styrofoam box).

3.       Filler material so samples don’t movie around.

4.       Sample Order Sheet (with QC files if applicable)

5.       Client Information and any requests you would like the team to know about.

Tips for packaging

1.       The less movement the better.

Use materials such as bubble wrap, paper, cardboard to pad out the unused space.

2.       Dry ice needs to breathe.

Ventilation is your friend when it comes to preventing a build-up of gasses.

3.       Temperature is important.

Use a temperature indicator on the sample so when the shipment is received, we know what kind of temperature condition the samples are in, or if they have experiences unfavorable temperature change during their travel.

4.       Samples containers can cause issues.

Use tissue paper inside the overall sample container to prevent them from colliding with one another, the less vibration/ movement the better.

5.       When in doubt do three.

Triple tape the openings of the shipping box, this will ensure it won’t fly open in transit.

6.       For dry ice shipping: tape around the lid of the Styrofoam box to keep in the cold.

 Don’t worry Styrofoam as a material does breathe enough to let out carbon dioxide build up.

7.       Don’t just use a Styrofoam box.

Surround the Styrofoam box with a cardboard one to prevent catastrophic blowout.

8.       Caution! Dry ice is hot?

No, it’s very cold and will burn your skin if contact is made.

9.       Shake dry ice to prevent gaps

Shaking a container filled with something will make the something conforms to the shape of the container.