full sequencing on refrigerated blood

[xyzzy123]

Is it feasible to do full genome sequencing on blood which has been refrigerated at 2-8 degrees C for 8 days or longer? If so, what would the maximum time be at this temperature? For longer storage (years), would freezing at -80 degrees C be sufficient? Thanks in advance.

Edit: Assuming the maximum time at 2-8 degrees C isn't long, if anyone knows the answer, a prompt reply would be appreciated (if it isn't already too late). Thanks again.

[pmiguel]

Do the DNA prep and run a gel to see if you see substantial degradation.

DNA is quite stable in the absence of DNAses. Cells produce lots of DNAses -- so upon lysis, the DNA will begin to get trashed. But, even moderately degraded DNA is probably sequence-able.

--
Phillip

[xyzzy123]

Do the DNA prep and run a gel to see if you see substantial degradation.

DNA is quite stable in the absence of DNAses. Cells produce lots of DNAses -- so upon lysis, the DNA will begin to get trashed. But, even moderately degraded DNA is probably sequence-able.

--
Phillip

Sorry, I'm not a biologist and don't have either the knowledge or equipment to do this myself. A family member died after being in the hospital for a few weeks, the body was cremated, and the tissue samples which are currently being refrigerated in the lab are all that's left. I'd like to be able to preserve them until a full sequencing is reasonably cheap and accurate (hopefully just a few years). Unfortunately, virtually no one I talked to seems to be knowledgeable on what's necessary, so it's up to me to walk them through it (after learning myself what needs to be done, even though I have less knowledge in this general area than they do).

If the samples are still usable for full sequencing, they would either have to be frozen (I'm not sure if dry ice temperature is cold enough) or dehydrated and processed so the DNA would be stable at room temperature for at least a few years. My googling indicates that such services exist - for example, http://www.biomatrica.com/dnastableblood.php (although obviously this is something that needs to be done in a lab, so I would have to arrange for that as well).

Thanks for the response. It's frustrating that no one involved has any idea how to go about this.

[xyzzy123]

Following up, I was referred to PreventionGenetics ( http://www.preventiongenetics.com ) and was able to arrange for them to send a DNA collection kit directly to the lab where the blood samples were being held. The lab was nice enough to package the samples and send them back without any charges. The kit containing the samples was received back just over 3 weeks after collection. (Return shipping was 2 day FedEx, and used cold packs, so the samples stayed refrigerated.) I was just notified that they were able to extract and bank a good amount of DNA (500+ ugs). The charge from PreventionGenetics for the banking service was $98 (the usual charge, even though this was an unusual case in terms of how the samples were received).

The GeneTests results for "DNA banking" ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/Ge...1?db=genetests ) include PreventionGenetics. Most of the results are academic sites, but after trying to contact a few of those I got the sense that they are focused solely on research and unlikely to provide paid banking services for future sequencing.

[adaptivegenome]

Following up, I was referred to PreventionGenetics ( http://www.preventiongenetics.com ) and was able to arrange for them to send a DNA collection kit directly to the lab where the blood samples were being held. The lab was nice enough to package the samples and send them back without any charges. The kit containing the samples was received back just over 3 weeks after collection. (Return shipping was 2 day FedEx, and used cold packs, so the samples stayed refrigerated.) I was just notified that they were able to extract and bank a good amount of DNA (500+ ugs). The charge from PreventionGenetics for the banking service was $98 (the usual charge, even though this was an unusual case in terms of how the samples were received).

The GeneTests results for "DNA banking" ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/Ge...1?db=genetests ) include PreventionGenetics. Most of the results are academic sites, but after trying to contact a few of those I got the sense that they are focused solely on research and unlikely to provide paid banking services for future sequencing.

Generally you can get decent amounts of DNA leaving blood in the fridge for a while but there are also light fixatives that you can use to really prolong the stability of blood. These kinds of reagents are used to transport blood to remote analysis facilities during clinical trials.

Anyways it looks like you had a one-time need and that it worked out. Good luck with the analysis or whatever you plan to do.