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Sample Lineage

Sample have relationships between each other as well as with other LabID models. Samples generally obtained from a specimen and consumed in ways that may produce more samples or experimental data. In LabID, the complete sample lineage is tracked, this of course includes parent-child relationships between samples but also relationships with other LabID models. Most complex relationships (e.g. split and merge) are also handled.

Simplified sample lineage model
Simplified sample lineage model

Relationships with other samples

  • Samples can derive from a specimen in your collections. The sample will inherit specimen properties and annotations
  • Samples can derive from (an)other sample(s).
Future releases - Inheritance of annotations

In future releases of LabID:

  • Samples deriving from specimen will inherit specimen annotations
  • Samples deriving from (an)other sample(s) will inherit the parent(s) sample(s) annotations

Relationships with experiments and assays

Samples are consumed by assays and/or experiments. LabID keeps track of:

  • The protocol list used to produce a sample.
  • The experiments as part of which the sample was produced
  • The experiments as part of which the sample was consumed
  • The assay that consumed the sample
Why can samples be connected to both an Experiment and a Protocol List?
  • The Protocol List is a general description of the procedure used to generate a sample. It should always be indicated.
  • The Experiment (ELN note) is the place where to give a detailed explanation about how a sample was generated, in complement of the protocol, e.g. in case there was some adjustment during benchwork. It also may contain personal remarks/thoughts that you may want to keep private. Upon submission to public repositories, the Protocol List is mandatory, and will be exported, but the experiment note are not, and remain private.

Relationships with projects and studies

  • Samples have a direct relationship with the project for which they were originally produced.
  • Samples can have indirect relationships to other project. This usually occurs via the Sample -> Dataset -> Study -> Project where a sample was used to create a datasets, which was produced for a given study in a given project.