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Brain banks are used to gather, store, and provide human brain tissue for research and have been fundamental to improving our knowledge of the brain in health and disease. To maintain this role, the legal and ethical issues relevant to the operations of brain banks need to be more widely understood. In recent years, researchers have reported that shortages of high-quality brain tissue samples from both healthy and diseased people have impaired their efforts. Closer collaborations between brain banks and improved strategies for brain donation programmes will be essential to overcome these problems as the demand for brain tissue increases and new research techniques become more widespread, with the potential for substantial scientific advances in increasingly common neurological disorders.

Biobanks are essential for biomedical research, particularly in the era of personalized medicine. In Germany, 36 biobanks have been established over the past decade that are connected under the German Biobank Alliance (GBA). These biobanks store high-quality biological samples along with clinical data to support research projects. Biobanks can be integrated, handling both tissue and liquid samples, or set up as separate entities depending on specific requirements.Tissue biobanking is especially complex due to the invasive nature of tissue collection and the non-replicability of the samples. Close collaboration between clinics, pathologists, IT specialists, and biobank managers is crucial to ensure the quality of samples and promote interdisciplinary research.The integration of pathology and biobanking is key, both organizationally and technically. Shared IT systems, standardized protocols, and collaborative governance structures are vital for efficient data management. Quality assurance, ethical guidelines, and data protection are critical to maintaining public trust and legal compliance.Long-term financial models are needed to ensure the sustainability of biobanks. The GBA supports emerging biobanks through its \"Starterkit\" initiative, offering guidance and best practices to help new biobanks develop.Tissue biobanks are indispensable for advancing the understanding of diseases and developing new therapies. However, they must adhere to strict ethical and legal standards to maximize their scientific and societal value.

In 2023, Henrietta Lacks’ family won a settlement from Thermo Fisher Scientific on the grounds that the company had been “unjustly enriched” by the sale of products developed with Henrietta’s cells. Given that hundreds of thousands of people have tissue stored in the United States, this article explores how today’s patients might fare if they similarly sued professionals and companies that undertake unauthorized research on or commercialization of their tissue on the grounds of conversion, unjust enrichment, lack of informed consent, breach of fiduciary duty and, where government entities are involved, Fourteenth Amendment claims. The article notes that the practices that were subsequently seen as unethical in Henrietta Lacks’ care continue in some health care institutions today. It also analyzes how research and commercialization without consent can lead to a lack of trust in the research enterprise and the unwillingness of people to participate in research.

Biobanks and archived data sets collecting samples and data have become crucial engines of genetic and genomic research. Unresolved, however, is what responsibilities biobanks should shoulder to manage incidental findings and individual research results of potential health, reproductive, or personal importance to individual contributors (using “biobank” here to refer both to collections of samples and collections of data). This article reports recommendations from a 2-year project funded by the National Institutes of Health. We analyze the responsibilities involved in managing the return of incidental findings and individual research results in a biobank research system (primary research or collection sites, the biobank itself, and secondary research sites). We suggest that biobanks shoulder significant responsibility for seeing that the biobank research system addresses the return question explicitly. When reidentification of individual contributors is possible, the biobank should work to enable the biobank research system to discharge four core responsibilities to (1) clarify the criteria for evaluating findings and the roster of returnable findings, (2) analyze a particular finding in relation to this, (3) reidentify the individual contributor, and (4) recontact the contributor to offer the finding. We suggest that findings that are analytically valid, reveal an established and substantial risk of a serious health condition, and are clinically actionable should generally be offered to consenting contributors. This article specifies 10 concrete recommendations, addressing new biobanks as well as those already in existence. Genet Med 2012:14(4):361–384

Carefully categorized postmortem human brains are crucial for research. The lack of generally accepted methods for processing human postmortem brains for research persists. Thus, brain banking is essential; however, it cannot be achieved at the cost of the teaching mission of the academic institution by routing brains away from residency programs, particularly when the autopsy rate is steadily decreasing. A consensus must be reached whereby a brain can be utilizable for diagnosis, research, and teaching. The best diagnostic categorization possible must be secured and the yield of samples for basic investigation maximized. This report focuses on integrated, novel methods currently applied at the New York Brain Bank, Columbia University, New York, which are designed to reach accurate neuropathological diagnosis, optimize the yield of samples, and process fresh-frozen samples suitable for a wide range of modern investigations. The brains donated for research are processed as soon as possible after death. The prosector must have a good command of the neuroanatomy, neuropathology, and the protocol. One half of each brain is immersed in formalin for performing the thorough neuropathologic evaluation, which is combined with the teaching task. The contralateral half is extensively dissected at the fresh state. The anatomical origin of each sample is recorded using the map of Brodmann for the cortical samples. The samples are frozen at −160°C, barcode labeled, and ready for immediate disbursement once categorized diagnostically. A rigorous organization of freezer space, coupled to an electronic tracking system with its attached software, fosters efficient access for retrieval within minutes of any specific frozen samples in storage. This report describes how this achievement is feasible with emphasis on the actual processing of brains donated for research.

The establishment of brain banks is a strategic initiative to advance research on neurodegenerative diseases in Latin America. This article highlights the development, operations, and multidisciplinary framework of the National Dementia BioBank in Mexico and the National Brain Bank in the Dominican Republic. Both centers focus on the molecular characterization of pathological proteins central to Alzheimer's disease, such as tau and amyloid beta. Standardized protocols have been implemented for tissue donation, preservation, and post mortem analysis. Beyond supporting diagnostics and research, these centers promote scientific literacy and public engagement through traveling exhibitions and outreach initiatives. Together, these brain banking efforts enhance regional scientific capacity, strengthen international collaboration, and advance the representation of historically underserved populations. Their work contributes to a more equitable and globally relevant neuroscience landscape, positioning Latin America as a growing contributor to translational research in aging and dementia. Highlights Creation of two national brain banks in Mexico (National Dementia BioBank) and the Dominican Republic (National Brain Bank–UNPHU) with standardized protocols for donation, preservation, and post mortem analysis of tau and amyloid beta under international parameters. Integration of advanced histopathological and molecular diagnostic platforms combining classical stains (H&E, Bielschowsky) with immunoperoxidase, multiplex immunofluorescence staining, confocal microscopy, and AI‐powered automated analysis for quantification and recognition of topographic patterns. Design of an inclusive tissue collection model that prioritizes the genomic and sociocultural representation of mestizo, Afro‐Caribbean, and Indigenous populations, reducing Eurocentric bias and enhancing the global validity of studies on Alzheimer's and other dementias. Development of a culturally sensitive, ethical, and neuroethical framework, with an informed consent process accessible in multiple languages and literacy levels, and safeguarding confidentiality through rigorous data coding. Implementation of innovative outreach strategies (traveling exhibitions, augmented/virtual reality, public lectures) to promote a culture of brain donation and democratize knowledge about neurodegeneration in diverse communities.

In recent years, biobanks of human tissues have evolved from small-scale collections of pathological materials into structured resource centers for acquisition, storage, processing and usage of high-quality biospecimens for research. This evolution goes hand in hand with the development of highly sensitive, high-throughput methods for biomarker discovery. The complexity of the molecular patterns of diseases such as cancer provides multiple opportunities for targeted therapeutic intervention, tailored to suit the particular characteristics of each patient. Developing and evaluating such novel therapies requires access to rigorously designed and well-structured collections of biospecimens. In turn, biobanking infrastructures have a critical impact on the discovery, development and implementation of new drugs for cancer treatment. Therefore, it is essential to harmonize biobanking procedures, and to develop innovative solutions supporting biobank interoperability and specimen sharing, ensuring that new drugs may effectively reach out to the largest possible number of patients.

Collections of human postmortem brains gathered in brain banks have underpinned many significant developments in the understanding of central nervous system (CNS) disorders and continue to support current research. Unfortunately, the worldwide decline in postmortem examinations has had an adverse effect on research tissue procurement, particularly from control cases (non-diseased brains). Recruitment to brain donor programmes partially addresses this problem and has been successful for dementing and neurodegenerative conditions. However, the collection of brains from control subjects, particularly from younger individuals, and from CNS disorders of sudden onset, remains a problem. Brain banks need to adopt additional strategies to circumvent such shortages. The establishment of brain bank networks allows data on, and access to, control cases and unusual CNS disorders to be shared, providing a larger resource for potential users. For the brain banks themselves, inclusion in a network fosters the sharing of protocols and development of best practice and quality control. One aspect of this collective experience concerns brain bank management, excellence in which is a prerequisite not only for gaining the trust of potential donors and of society in general, but also for ensuring equitable distribution to researchers of high quality tissue samples. This review addresses the legal, ethical and governance issues, tissue quality, and health and safety aspects of brain bank management and data management in a network, as well as the needs of users, brain bank staffing, donor programs, funding issues and public relations. Recent developments in research methodology present new opportunities for researchers who use brain tissue samples, but will require brain banks to adopt more complex protocols for tissue collection, preparation and storage, with inevitable cost implications for the future.

Brain banking has supported many important advances in neuroscience research. Kretzschmar describes the advantages and opportunities offered by brain banking and provides insight into the challenges facing brain banks in the future. Brain banks collect post-mortem human brains to foster research into human CNS function and disease. They have been indispensable for uncovering the secrets of many diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. At a time when there are so many open questions in neuroscience and the incidence of brain diseases continues to increase in parallel with the aging of the population, brain banking remains at the heart of brain research. However, the major source of brain banks, the clinical autopsy, is rapidly falling into limbo. New strategies, including donor programmes, medico-legal autopsies and banking in networks, as well as fresh considerations of the ethics and public relations, are required.

The use of musculoskeletal allografts has become increasingly popular among surgeons. The purpose of this review is to highlight the procurment and delievery process of fresh osteochondral allografts in the United States. The four distributors of fresh osteochondral allografts in the United States were contacted. Surveys containing quantitative and qualitative sections concerning the procurement and processing of osteochondral allograft tissue were obtained. Our results showed an average of 13 ± 4.24 years of experience with osteochondral allografts. The average donor age ranged from 13.5 ± 3 to 37.5 ± 5 years, with an average age of 27 ± 2.83 years. All donors were between ages 12 and 45 years old. The percentage of screened donors that were accepted for allograft transplant was consistent at 70–75% for 3 out of the 4 tissue banks. The percentage of grafts that expire without implantation ranged from 20% to 29%. Maximum shipping time varied between 24 and 96 hours. Each tissue bank used its own proprietary storage medium. The time from donor death to the harvest of allograft tissue was < 24 hours. The most commonly requested osteochondral allograft tissue for all banks was the medial femoral condyle. The market share of fresh allografts is as follows: Joint Restoration Foundation (JRF) 59.9%, Muskuloskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF) 15.3%, LifeNet Health (LN) 14.5%, and Regeneration Technology Incorporated (RTI) 10.2%, with approximately 4700 fresh allografts distributed in 2018. This compiled data from the four tissue banks that supply fresh osteochondral allograft in the United States provides important background information for patients and orthopaedic surgeons.