Biobanks

The Swiss TPH biobanks store over half a million biological samples such as blood, urine, stool and saliva in refrigerators at -80°C, collected prospectively in the context of population-based long-term cohorts such as SAPALDIA and COVCO-Basel, or stored as anonymized samples from diagnostic services as reference material. Moreover, this biobank houses large reference collections of diverse pathogens from around the world. We have storage capacity for over 1.5 million samples and (for the first time) storage under liquid nitrogen (at -196°C), which preserves sample quality for an even longer time. Swiss TPH has state-of-the-art technology for processing and storing biological samples and combines this with its strong expertise in longitudinal cohort studies and exposome science, as well as research collaborations with other research institutes and private companies.
 

Biobank freezers at Swiss TPH (Photo: J. Pelikan/Swiss TPH)
Around 64 freezers store more than one million biological samples at the Swiss TPH, including blood, urine, stool and salvia.
Liquid nitrogen containers (Photo: J. Pelikan/Swiss TPH)
The liquid nitrogen containers store biological samples in the vapour phase at -170/-185°C and in the liquid phase at -196°C.
Biological samples stored in nitrogen (Photo: J. Pelikan/Swiss TPH)
Biological samples can be stored in nitrogen for many years without any noticeable loss of quality.