Nonfungible tokens as a solution for the secondary use of biospecimens – The Mahathian Post

Current research results published in JMIR Bioinformatics and Biotechnology discusses how current practices of anonymizing human samples for research purposes are reminiscent of the treatment of Henrietta Lack’s tissue in 1951. It highlights how current standards continue to free researchers and healthcare systems from the obligation to promote respect, charity and equity for patients.

This historic case highlights ethical challenges for the secondary use of biosamples that persist in modern learning healthcare systems. Anonymization and broad consent aim to maximize the benefits of learning from nursing by minimizing the burden on patients and researchers, but the authors show how these strategies fall short for privacy, transparency, engagement, and equity.

The resulting supply chain for human cell and tissue-based products can therefore recap the harm the Lacks family has endured to all patients, past and present.

As per convention at the then segregated 1951 Johns Hopkins Hospital, tissue obtained during Henrietta Lacks’ cancer treatment was anonymized using the first two letters of her first and last name, making research on her tissue possible without her express knowledge or consent enabled.

This workaround turned Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cancer into death-defying “HeLa cells.”

Although the world’s technical standards for anonymization have evolved, the spirit of anonymization that separated Ms. Lacks, a poor black mother of 5, from her inheritance remains enshrined in US law and is widely exploited by today’s research firms.

dr Marielle Gross of the University of Pittsburgh and Johns Hopkins says that “anonymizing biosamples provides a ‘tick’ to protect privacy while allowing unrestricted secondary use of clinical data.”

That JMIR Bioinformatics and Biotechnology Authors represent the potential for Blockchain Technology Build unprecedented transparency, engagement and accountability into the learning healthcare system architecture without the need for anonymization. In particular, NFTs have the potential to enshrine the primacy of duty to patients in our people tissue Explore supply chains by maintaining continuity of care for individuals, encouraging learning and enabling efficient translation without compromising privacy.

dr Gross and co-authors concluded that continued reliance on anonymization and broad agreement on the “secondary use” of biosamples could create learning platforms that recapitulate historically exploitative practices of integrating research and patient care.

In contrast, “HeLa cells are the original ‘use case’ for NFTs as they demonstrate the need to maintain the provenance of non-fungible human-derived assets and fiduciary duties to respective patients.”

Blockchain technology has the potential to build unprecedented transparency, engagement and accountability into learning health system architecture.

Representing biosamples with NFTs can maximize efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in the future of learning healthcare systemsand requires further exploration.

Provided by JMIR Publications