The roles of material transfer agreements in genetics databases and bio-banks

Margoni, T. (2013) The roles of material transfer agreements in genetics databases and bio-banks. In: Pascuzzi, G., Izzo, U. and Macilotti, M. (eds.) Comparative Issues in the Governance of Research Biobanks: Property, Privacy, Intellectual Property, and the Role of Technology. Springer: Berlin ; Heidelberg, pp. 231-249. ISBN 9783642331152 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-33116-9_13)

Abstract

In this paper, we will analyse the role (or better the roles) that a specific document, the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), has accrued in the exchange of bio-materials between research institutions. We will see how fundamental such documents have become in the most recent years, and that an uncontrolled proliferation of them could bring about a highly inefficient market situation. We will further see how standardisation will partially fix the problems connected to the exchange of bio-materials and bio-samples. However, whilst standardisation possesses undeniable advantages, it has to cope with a minimum level of flexibility, otherwise it will not be able to catch the huge varieties of situations involved. We will finally observe, how new digital and web-based collaborative efforts can contribute to achieve such trade-off between standardisation and flexibility.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Margoni, Dr Thomas
• Authors: Margoni, T.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Publisher: Springer
• ISBN: 9783642331152