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Karolinska Institute: Serious breakdown
Photo: Mikael Sjoberg / Bloomberg / Getty Images
At the renowned Karolinska Institute (KI) in Stockholm, a glitch resulted in samples collected over decades being destroyed. The freezing system malfunctioned over the Christmas holidays, reports the Guardian, among others, citing the AFP news agency and the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television.
The samples are stored in liquid nitrogen in so-called cryogenic tanks at the medical university and cooled down to minus 190 degrees. Between December 22nd and 23rd, the automatic supply of liquid nitrogen to 16 of the 19 containers was interrupted. According to reports, the tanks can last up to four days without refills, but due to the holidays the problem was apparently only discovered after five days. According to Sveriges Television, an automatic alarm should have been triggered. However, that didn't happen.
Internal investigation initiated
"It happened at the worst possible time in Sweden, just one day before Christmas Eve," said Matti Sällberg from the university. The value of the lost samples could be in the millions, but there is no official estimate. “The worst affected are the leukemia researchers who have been collecting samples from patients for over 30 years,” says Sällberg.
An internal investigation was therefore initiated at the university. There appears to be no evidence of sabotage, but the incident was reported to the police.
The Karolinska Institute is considered one of the most respected teaching and research institutions for medicine. Every year the Nobel Assembly chooses the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine here.
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