They lost years of research in a few days. All because of a freezer failure at a Swedish university

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute at the Medical University of Sweden have been working on research related to leukemia (leukemia) for years. Blood samples and other materials collected from patients were stored on campus for decades. However, most of them were destroyed following an equipment failure on Christmas Day last year.

Researchers lost years of work in a few days. Valuable samples destroyed at a Swedish university

The samples were stored in special tanks cooled with liquid nitrogen, which maintains a temperature of -190 degrees. However, between December 22 and 23, there was an interruption in the supply of liquid nitrogen, which was noticed only on December 27. By then, most of the materials had been destroyed. – These are samples that were collected methodically over a period of 10-30 years, which were preserved and used for research. It cannot be determined by price, Matti Sallberg from the institute told the portal.

He added that hematology tests are the most affected. – This is a disaster for about a hundred researchers at all levels (…). For them, it will be a break in research work. Many of them have planned tests that they cannot complete now because they have run out of material, he said.

The university reported the matter to the police. The costs run into the millions

The university reported the case to the uniformed services, although an internal investigation did not reveal any signs of sabotage or external activities. – Currently, there is no indication that anyone from outside was involved, but we have prepared a report for the police to investigate everything as thoroughly as possible – says Sallberg, quoted by “”. He also noted that all materials were intended for research purposes only, so their loss would not affect any of the patients currently being treated. It is estimated that the cost of lost samples is approximately half a billion Swedish kronor.