Archiving and storage of biological materials for use in research has seen a significant upswing in interest and activity in the last decade and will likely continue to grow as a research resource and an industry. Despite all of this activity and economic outlay there is a fundamental question that remains unanswered regarding the storage of biological materials: At what storage temperature does the least amount of degradation occur? Conventional wisdom would suggest that at least -80° C is required for long term storage, however robust evidence is lacking to support -80° C or below as the appropriate long term storage temperature for all biological molecules of interest to researchers. The purpose of this thesis is to review the -20° C and -80° C storage temperature literature for nutritional and steroid hormone analytes and to begin the process of making a scientific case for the appropriate storage temperatures for these analytes. There are limited true validation studies of nutritional and steroid hormones temperature requirements from which to draw robust conclusions. Thus, well-designed storage temperature validity studies are required to ensure that these analytes are stored at a temperature that reduces degradation and ensures that studies that store or use these analytes can be assured that their findings are indeed valid.
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