From Fill to Freeze: Redesigning homeRNA to Enable Robust Sampling and Scalable Downstream Processing Workflows for Remote Blood Transcriptomics

The redesigned homeRNA remote blood collection platform maintains RNA quality for transcriptomics after 2-day shipping and ambient-to-high temperatures of 25–40 {degrees}C, with mean RIN=7.8 across 0.25–1 mL blood volumes.

• Why it matters: Remote transcriptomics is limited by participation barriers and by sample degradation risks during shipping and storage, which can undermine downstream RNA-based analyses.
• What they did: The team redesigned homeRNA for usability, high-throughput manufacturing, and longer stabilizer tube shelf life, then tested it under anticipated remote-study stresses including temperature exposure and variable blood volumes.
• The result: The device can be prepared and stored at room temperature at least three months, and samples remain suitable after 4 weeks in typical cold storage and even -80 to 20 {degrees}C (mean RIN=8.1).

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.