Tech genetic research lab receives grant for cutting-edge freeze

Grants from the National Science Foundation paid for liquid nitrogen freezers for Texas Tech's Natural Science Research Lab. 

The freezers are used to house frozen tissues of the genetic resources collection. The collection is made up of tissue samples from more than 90,000 individuals. 

Before the state-of-the-art freezers, these samples were stored in mechanical freezers with short life-spans and frequent mechanical issues.

"We're supporting the university to be a pre-eminent research institution," museum director Gary Morgan said. "With this upgrade, we really are at the pointy end of supporting the very best research that is possible into a whole raft of genomic-related studies."

The process of transferring the collection is expected to take about three years.