Tomorrow I am headed to Illinois for a combination family visit and to finish analyzing my blood samples. Last Tuesday I shipped them FedEx from Carleton, packaged in dry ice with the appropriate documentation stating what the blood was (fish) and that it was taken with authorization from the MNR. The folks at Carleton figured it would take 1-2 days to get to Illinois.
My samples are still sitting in a customs agency in Memphis, Tennessee, chilling in a refrigerator (despite my insistence that they be frozen) awaiting clearance by the Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm sure at this point the dry ice has evaporated and it's possible the samples may slowly be degrading. As the title of this post suggests, it's a major bummer. I worked all summer for these blood samples and, although not all will be lost if the blood goes to crap, to think that my data is being compromised by a "system" is nauseating. No problems last year, but then again this year isn't last year.
The good news is cortisol, the one physiological parameter I'm most interested in (it's the body's primary stress hormone), is fairly robust. If the temperature gets too high or the samples stay unfrozen for too long, however, the properties of the hormone may change and artificially increase or decrease concentrations in the plasma (not sure which way).
I hope they arrive tomorrow...
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