How the tissue is collected and managed

Collection

The Human Developmental Biology Resource (HDBR) was established in line with the ethical guidelines laid out in the Polkinghorne Report (Review of the Guidance on the Research Use of Fetuses and Fetal Material, 1989). Donations of tissue are made entirely voluntarily by women undergoing therapeutic termination of pregnancy. Donors are asked to give explicit written consent for the fetal material to be collected, and only after they have been counselled about the termination of their pregnancy.

Management of material

The tissue is held at the Institute for Child Health, London and the Institute of Human Genetics, Newcastle upon Tyne. It is intended for use primarily by academic researchers based in the UK. The HDBR Joint Steering Committee is responsible for the overall management of the project and vets all applications to use material through a two-stage process. Applications are first considered by local committees at the HDBR centres in London and Newcastle, then reviewed at a biannual meeting of the HDBR Joint Steering Committee.

In 2005 the HDBR took over the management of the Fetal Tissue Bank (FTB) and is now able to offer tissue for research from the FTB resource.

The HDBR makes every effort to ensure that optimal use is made of donated tissue, both in terms of the aims and quality of the research for which it is used and avoidance of duplication/wastage. Tissue may only be released to applicants whose research has been granted ethical approval by the HDBR and by the ethical committee of the applicant's research institution.