Events at Alder Hey Hospital have highlighted the deficiencies in the Human Tissue Act 1961 and in the oversight mechanisms for the collection of tissue and organs for medical research. Health secretary Alan Milburn, in response to the The Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry report, proposes to make changes to the law in this area (Leader, THES, February 2). It is important that any overhaul of legislation should incorporate the special considerations that surround genetic research.
Archive collections of tissue and biological samples are a potential source of material for genetic research because of the information they contain about disease in the population over large periods of time. DNA can be isolated from any cell in any part of the body and therefore the smallest amount of tissue can be a valuable source of DNA.
In 1998, the Medical Research Council was given a £12 million budget to establish a regional network of DNA collections. It is important that the issues of collection, storage access and oversight that surround the use of DNA samples are adequately thought through to ensure we do not have an Alder Hey in genetic research.
Jane Kaye
University of Oxford