Laboratories & science · Case study

A sample is more than a row in a database.

Physical identity and complete historical genealogy remained connected through transformations and measurements.

Case study context

The project and the problem

Within that laboratory programme, each research sample was a real physical object that could be labelled, moved, processed, measured, split into descendants, combined with other samples or assigned a specific position inside a batch. A mutable database row could show its latest state, but would erase many-to-many transformations and the evidence explaining how it reached that state.

How the process worked

Each sample received a durable identity surrounded by append-only genealogy edges, state and location history, process participation and measurements. Batch executions recorded every physical position separately, preserving individual traceability without duplicating the shared process run.

Physical evidence thread

Trace any result back to the physical sample.

Use the controls below to inspect the key stages, constraints and validation decisions in that process.

Sample traceability workbench

Sample stateHOLD · QC review
Evidence path

Genealogy

  • Material
  • Transformation event
  • Measurement
  1. Source material
  2. Created by
  3. Output
  4. Split by
  5. Split into
  6. Split into
  7. Measured as

S-24-01842-B is linked to measurement M-24081 and requires QC review.

Operating constraints

  • Physical labels and digital identity
  • Ancestors and descendants
  • Batch positions
  • Historical state

What changed

  • End-to-end identity
  • Inspectable genealogy
  • Batch-level and individual traceability
  • Evidence preserved through change

Evidence retained: Durable sample identities, genealogy edges, batch positions and event history made every transformation inspectable.

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