A freezer malfunction at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital has severely damaged one-third of the world’s largest collection of autism brain samples, potentially setting back research on the disorder by years, scientists say.
An official at the renowned brain bank in Belmont discovered that the freezer had shut down in late May, without triggering two alarms. Inside, they found 150 thawed brains that had turned dark from decay; about a third of them were part of a collection of autism brains.
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There is a joke in here somewhere, but I'll leave it to Bill Maher.
Did this lab not have a person responsible for daily temp. checks on the external temp. recorder?
This sounds impossible - but - one thing is for sure, it is negligence.
As the article states, "staff checked an external thermostat twice a day to ensure that the tissue samples were maintained at about minus-80 degrees Celsius." They also don't routinely open the freezer to double-check that the outside thermostat is correct, for quality reasons. The fact that the external thermostat was reading -79C and the two alarms did not go off is very suspicious. As one person indicated, "We can't rule out foul play." So, did some internal person with a grudge sabotage the freezer? Time to bring in the Brain Police!