Policy advice: The Availability and Accessibility of Human Tissue for Biomedical Research and Teaching

Human tissue is important for research and education and can contribute to the replacement of animal experiments. We therefore asked ourselves the question: “To what extent is human tissue available for scientific research and education, and how can its availability and use be promoted, including replacing or complementing the use of laboratory animals?”

This policy advice starts by describing the relevant laws and ethical guidelines that regulate and standardise the use of human tissue for research in the Netherlands. Subsequently, the advice provides an overview of the various sources of human tissue that are used for research and education. Additionally, a number of bottlenecks are identified and described. The report points out that there is a large number of different laws regulating the use of human tissue for research. Other bottlenecks include the findability, accessibility and financial instability of biobanks. Furthermore, more study is needed into potential applications of human tissue in research, in particular post-mortem tissue.

Besides the overview of current challenges, we also see various opportunities for promoting the use of human tissue in research.