Evaluation of novel forensic DNA storage methodologies

An issue in forensic sciences is the secure storage of extracted DNA. Most of the time, DNA is frozen at -20°C or -80°C. Recently, new room temperature DNA storage technologies have been developed based on anhydrobiosis. Two products use this technology: Qiasafe (Qiagen) and Gentegra (Genvault). In this study we focused on the recent Gentegra product and initiated a comparison versus -20°C and Qiasafe storage. We compared the quantity and quality of DNA stored using anhydrobiosis technology against DNA stored at -20°C, by performing STR profiling after short term storage. Furthermore, we studied the quantity and integrity of DNA after long term storage. Our results prove the high potential of this technology but it seems to be extraction dependent. Phenol/chloroform extracted DNA could be stored using the Gentegra matrix for more than 6 months without any obvious degradation. However, DNA extracted using magnetic beads could not be safely stored over the same period. Adaptations are therefore required to store this kind of samples.