I semi-routinely (once every 3 mo.) analyze my blood for biochemical markers. I've done some DNA work on it as well (SNP genotyping).
KISS for DNA work; the RBCs are useless. Carefully collect as much of the plasma (I assume there are anti-coagulants in your sample), and store that at -20 to -80 and as necessary. As usual, avoid freeze/thaw cycles. Spotting on cards is also a great idea.
If you want to get fancy and/or need a more concentrated sample the overwhelming majority (60-80%) of DNA in a blood sample comes from leukocytes, forget the plasma and the RBCs and just pull of the buffy coat (1 mm - 1 cm "white" coat between the plasma and the RBCs in a centrifuged sample) and store that.
-- Whole blood is more like a tissue or an organ than a DNA sample. If you don't feed it to keep it alive it will degrade. Even if you feed it (Citrate, Phosphate, and Dextrose), it will degrade, just slower. Unless you plan to put the blood back, there's no need to go to that trouble. In the future, unless you plan to look at chemical markers, there's no need to have the lab centrifuge it. The blood will separate on its own sitting in the fridge for an hour or two and, if that's not fast enough, spinning at arms length will work. Always use universal precautions when working with someone else's blood or when working with your blood around other people.
On Wednesday, March 21, 2012 2:36:35 AM UTC-5, cameron wrote:
On Wednesday, March 21, 2012 2:36:35 AM UTC-5, cameron wrote:
I am planning to an effort to measure my telomeres in a few months. I have a vial of my blood that was spun down and given to my by a lab yesterday. But, I need to find a way to store it for a few months. Anyone know a good DIY protocol for storing it at -20 C?Thx,Cameron
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