Standard operating procedures (SOPs) and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) create successful biorepositories by ensuring consistent approaches to specimen management, handling, and processing.

For laboratory sample management, the ramifications of noncompliance with industry norms are significant, risking patient health and organizational credibility.

The need for proper tracking of sample information – location, status, properties, expiration, and activities – is not new. Today, the number of samples in any laboratory is in the hundreds or thousands. These samples are stored in different containers and various locations. Proper and accurate tracking at all stages is imperative for testing accuracy, study validity, and patient safety.

This update has a number of great new features. We’ll feature the top four here. For a complete listing of features and corrections included in this update, see our release notes.

While many people have likely heard the term “biobanking,” they likely have little to no idea what it actually means. Biobanks often come up in discussions of new studies or research findings, but there isn’t much information on what they are.