                print("Metadata misssing from database. Skipping experiment.")


            db_id = exp_id
            sample_dict = collections.OrderedDict()
            if library == 'SINGLE':
                sample_dict = collections.OrderedDict([('fastq_1',''), ('fastq_2',''), ('md5_1',''), ('md5_2',''), ('single_end','true')])
                if fastq_files:
                    sample_dict['fastq_1']  = fastq_files
                    sample_dict['md5_1']    = fastq_md5
                else:
                    ## In some instances FTP links don't exist for FastQ files
                    ## These have to be downloaded via fastq-dump / fasterq-dump / parallel-fastq-dump via the run id
                    db_id = run_id
