ABSTRACT
Conducting research on body parts and tissues is nothing new – having always been a part of anatomical examination which is known to have been practiced since at least ancient Egyptian times. Most instances of tissue use both for research and other purposes are of necessity preceded by a period of storage. Much of the time the storage is together with other material. What constitutes the appropriate nomenclature for such collections is contested, with a range of overlapping and contrasting terms being used in practice. Discourse concerned with the ethics of human tissue research has been characterized as centred on the need to safeguard donor autonomy and also as reflecting a tension between such autonomy and the common good which is ‘seen to have particular salience’ in this context because of the dependence of researchers upon entire communities, many of whom are unlikely to benefit from the results of the research’.
