Evaluation of DNA/RNAshells for room temperature nucleic acids storage.

Traditional nucleic acids preservation methods rely on maintaining samples in cold environments, which are costly to operate and time sensitive. Recent work validated that using room temperature for the storage of nucleic acids is possible if the samples are completely protected from water and oxygen. Here, we conducted accelerated aging and real-time degradation studies to evaluate the new technology DNAshell and RNAshell, which preserves DNA and RNA at room temperature, including the DNA and RNA yield, purity, and integrity. DNA and RNA solutions are dried in the presence of stabilizers in stainless steel minicapsules, then redissolved after different time points of heating and storing at room temperature. Results show that DNAshell and RNAshell ensure the safe storage of nucleic acids at room temperature for long periods of time, and that the quality of these nucleic acids is suitable for common downstream analysis.