Why it matters

The material may permit later analyses beyond the purpose originally considered.

The material and its record belong together

Consider a stored tube whose label cannot be confidently connected to the collection record. The material may remain physically intact, but its identity and permitted uses become harder to establish. Storage quality alone cannot resolve that gap.

A specimen review should connect identity, custody, purpose, and retention. It should also distinguish destruction of the material from deletion of information already produced from it. These actions affect different assets; one should not be described as automatically accomplishing the other.

Sources