Regulating Biobanks in Humans: The Use of Adult & Children Biomaterials for Clinical & Research Purposes

Human biobanks are a revolution in the field of medical sciences and technologies. As organised bioresources of samples and data providing high quality services for clinical and research applications, human biobanks are contributing to the shape of the modern realm of translational research globally. In relation to this facet, human biorepositories are raising a number of ethical, legal and social issues surrounding the use of biomaterials and related information for therapeutic or research purposes. This book seeks to draw up the main issues related to the established and emerging human biobanks focusing on the issues of ownership, commercialisation, informed consent, privacy protection and return of results. To provide a comprehensive analysis of these elements, this book proposes a reading of known as well as emerging ethical and regulatory issues related to biorepositiories, comprised of both adult and paediatric biobanks. This book includes an edition of papers addressing ethical, legal and social aspects of biobanks and news contributions related to this field.