Bio-medical scientists undertook research on major diseases and tried to find a remedy to prevent or treat those diseases. Killer diseases like cancer and many tumors were bothering men for centuries. To continue research work, scientists needed the live samples of those diseases in order to make research on them. Due to strict regulations imposed by international organizations on organ transplant and donation has made the availability of human tissues for research a difficult one. However, WHO has authorized the collection and preservation of leftovers of human tissues after an operation, blood transfusion or biopsy, which will otherwise has to be flushed out as bio waste. However, this can be done only with the written permission of the concerned parties.
Tissues that can be donated for medical research include:
• Those leftover pieces of cancer or tumor affected parts after operation or biopsy.
• The cells affected by cancer from bones and marrows.
• The normal tissues that are in excess in blood organs
• Fluids that are available in other parts of the body
• Any tumor affected part from any of the human organs like lungs, liver, brain, etc.
Donation of these tissues will give the scientists greater opportunity to find suitable remedy for the killer diseases. They can test those tissues with various medicines and formulas and can come out with the most effective medicine.
Apprehensions
There are certain apprehensions in the minds of the patients and many think that by donating the tissues, their treatment may be affected, but this is totally baseless. Doctors will not remove any extra parts for getting the tissues as it will be unethical on their part to do so. So, they will remove only those affected parts. These parts will be treated as a sanitary waste and will be destroyed. If the patients allow it to be used for research purposes, that will help in saving millions of lives in the future. Human tissue is very important for research and do not hesitate to help the humanity in general by helping research.