NEGATIVE — MEDICAL — DISADVANTAGES 258

PRIVACY CONTROLS THREATEN BENEFICIAL TISSUE LIBRARIES

TISSUE LIBRARIES CAN YIELD IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Sharon Schmickle, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) February 10, 1999, SECTION: Pg. 1A TITLE: A challenge to privacy// acs-EE2001

Nationwide, at least 282 million specimens - including bone, muscle, skin, organs, embryos, nail clippings and even sweat - from more than 176 million cases are stored in repositories, according to the Bioethics Commission. The federal government houses some of the largest collections, but most of the specimens are stored in research and teaching hospitals such as Mayo.

Some of the DNA is deteriorated, but in many cases an ever-so-thin slice from the viable tissue that remains can yield a detailed genetic profile.

TISSUE LIBRARIES ARE IMPORTNT FOR MEDICAL ADVANCES

Sharon Schmickle, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) February 10, 1999, SECTION: Pg. 1A TITLE: A challenge to privacy// acs-EE2001

    As libraries go, this one is highly unusual. Its reference materials include millions of samples from brain tumors, diseased organs, breast lumps, blood and other bodily specimens gathered during nearly a century from surgery tables and laboratories at the Mayo Clinic.

Such collections at medical facilities worldwide have fostered life-saving research. Tissue from diseased lungs revealed the dangers of smoking, and studies of precancerous lesions from uteruses helped guide women toward regular Pap smears.

In an era of DNA technology, a few cells from the right specimens can help solve age-old mysteries such as why some people get sick and others don't and why one person gains nothing from a treatment that saves another person's life.