Quality assessment of samples in Scottish HPV archive- a Bio-Bank of cervical smear samples.

The Scottish Human papillomavirus (HPV) archive is a biobank of cervical smear samples from routine cervical screening, and acts as a resource for research into HPV related disease. These samples are provided to researchers investigating the epidemiology of the virus, presence and expression of the viral nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) and expression of viral and cellular proteins. The aim of this project will be to assess the stability of DNA, RNA and protein levels in a set of 50 samples stored in the archive for different length of time at different temperatures. Insights gained from this project will provide information necessary for future maintenance and assurance to the use of the Bio-Bank for research.