Winter College Conversations
Eric Meslin
Professor of Medicine and Philosophy, School of Medicine and School of Liberal Arts, Indianapolis
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Bioethics and Biobanks: Ethical Issues and the Donation of the Body
Eric Meslin, Liberal Arts and Medicine
From the invention of clinical pathology at the beginning of the nineteenth century, medical science has used blood, biopsy specimens, tumors, and other tissues to understand and diagnose the causes of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases. It is estimated that more than 300 million specimens of these human biological materials are stored in the country’s pathology departments, laboratories, and tissue repositories. The vast majority of these specimens were collected for clinical diagnosis, but not medical research. Now that the human genome has been sequenced, scientists have recognized the tremendous value stored in those samples and are returning to the laboratory to examine them in greater detail. Many countries including Iceland, Estonia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have established "biobanks" to which citizens are contributing (literally) in the hope that health research will be stimulated by the careful study of genetic properties. While the research value of these biobanks are obvious, so too is the commercial value. However, this research can only proceed with careful consideration of the ethical, legal, and social implications of access to such genetic information. In this lecture we will review some of the critical bioethics issues that arise from the collection, storage, and research use of donated tissues.
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About Eric Meslin
Eric Meslin is Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, Associate Dean for Bioethics and
Professor of Medicine, and of Medical and Molecular Genetics in the Indiana University School of Medicine.
He is also Professor of Philosophy in the School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University Purdue University
Indianapolis.
About Winter College Conversations
Winter College Conversations are a series of interviews with faculty members who lectured during the
Winter College program in 2007. The series was produced by the IU Alumni Association with special
support from Ken Beckley and the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. Winter College
takes place in February at Sanibel Island, Florida. To learn more, visit the
Winter College home page.