Essentials of tissue banking

Abstract

A paradigm shift is taking in raising standards on all aspects of tissue banking from procurement to processing, from storage to clinical usage. A number of monographs have appeared giving guidance on GMP and quality systems that should be adhered to. There are also good guidelines on the significance of the new regulations that have been enacted. However there is a significant lack of information on the scientific basis and rationale on why tissue banking practices have developed the way they have. Many of them have developed without much validation and have been in use for many years, copied from one tissue bank to another. There are some good articles on some scientific aspects of tissue banking practices, but they are in relatively old and in somewhat obscure journals. This book is intended to fill this gap by getting a series of eminent experts to each write a chapter or two on up to date tissue banking practices. Moreover in the modern world of tissue banking, safety and quality of tissues have taken an increasingly important role. In fact these activities form the basis of many licensure activities that relate to tissue establishments. An attempt has been made to cover these aspects as well. Although the legislation covers all types of cells, including stem cells, they have been deliberately omitted. The target audiences for stem cells are different and the set up is also generally quite different unlike cord blood, which is very similar to tissues and therefore included. In order to limit the size of the book to a manageable level the authors have been only asked to cover the basis of current practices, rather than future developments, such as embryonic cell developments, tissue engineering and gene therapy, which are more cellular therapies than tissue banking, per se. Courses conferring certificates and diplomas have just started to be provided by various professional bodies. This is important because tissue banking is becoming a distinct modality for scientists who want to work in the field. I believe such an audience would be very keen to use this book. Also any scientist and medical person working in the field should be interested in it. It will also be useful for many surgeons who use tissues in their daily clinical practice. I am very grateful to all the authors, who without exception willingly gave so much time, effort and energy in writing their chapters. They are without exception, leaders in their field. They have all produced up to date and state of the art chapters. They have done it in the style they felt was appropriate and no attempt was made to modify this. The key objective was to collate all this information in one place. I have learnt a lot whilst editing this work and I hope that the readers will be engrossed in reading this book as much as I have.