Biobanking, Zoology, and The Pill
Freezerworks enabled the RHSP to link 3,000–4,000 specimens from ~400 species under a single tracking system, supporting decades of wildlife reproductive health research with no data loss.
“This identifier [Freezerworks ID] is very useful. With it, I can pull up a bar code, and within Freezerworks, I can see all the individual parts of that animal, as that identifier is shared with every individual sample collected from that animal.”
ABOUT RHSP
The Reproductive Health Surveillance Program (RHSP) at Michigan State University, led by Dr. Dalen Agnew, is a world-unique center that monitors the safety and efficacy of contraceptive methods used across zoo and wildlife populations. It operates in partnership with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Reproductive Management Center based at the St. Louis Zoo.
The RHSP operates one of the most unusual biological archives in the world, currently holding 3,000–4,000 reproductive tracts and related tissue from roughly 400 species, collected from zoos and research partners across the country. Freezerworks powers the sample management and traceability that makes this archive function.
THE SITUATION
Wildlife biobanking operates on a fundamentally different timescale than clinical research. Studying a rare condition in an endangered species can require 20–50 years of tissue collection, long before a research question is even formulated. The RHSP's archive presented complex operational and organizational challenges:
Conventional hypothesis-driven grants don't fund long-horizon archive work. Collecting liver tumors from lemurs takes 20 years. The archive must grow before any research question is asked.
Each animal contributes reproductive tracts, histopath blocks, cytologies, slides, mammary and pituitary tissue, and blood spots for DNA, and all must be linked to a single animal record.
Each of the ~400 species requires unique trimming and processing procedures. Maintaining consistency across hundreds of unique workflows on a shoestring budget was a constant burden.
Samples, slides, paraffin blocks, and paperwork were spread across multiple storage locations. Cross-referencing a single animal’s complete record was slow and error-prone.
OUR SOLUTIONS
Universal Animal Identifier & Sample Linking
The RHSP adopted the Freezerworks ID as a universal barcode linking every sample type collected from the same animal. Whether pulling up a wet tissue bag, slide, paraffin block, or blood spot, a single scan surfaces the complete record for that animal.
- All sample types from one animal share a common Freezerworks ID barcode
- Samples Entry screen lists all aliquots below Animal ID with physical location info
- Tracks collection data, species, organ/sample type, source institution, and intermediaries
- Hard copy reports include file cabinet locations; digital images are queued for linking
This approach lets Dr. Agnew's team trace an animal's complete biological history across all sample types in seconds, which is critical for longitudinal contraceptive safety monitoring.
Configurable Biorepository Management
Freezerworks was configured to accommodate the RHSP's unique species-by-species workflow requirements, from morphological sorting to species-specific trimming protocols, without custom software development.
- Collection data, species identifiers, and organ/sample types tracked per record
- Full provenance chain: source zoo → intermediary pathologist → RHSP
- Supports parallel projects: jaguar blood spot collection, elephant serum bank, and more
- Scalable to new specimens from ongoing zoo contraception programs nationwide
THE OUTCOMES
By centralizing sample management in Freezerworks, the RHSP transformed a fragmented archive into a research-ready, scalable biorepository, enabling breakthroughs that benefit both wildlife and human health.
Unified Archive
3,000–4,000 specimens from ~400 species tracked under one system with no data loss.
Instant Traceability
One barcode scan surfaces an animal’s full biological record across all sample types.
Research Enablement
Supported landmark findings on jaguar contraception and breast cancer protection.
Long-Term Sustainability
Archive structured for 50+ year data horizons with Dataworks in-kind upgrade support.
