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It has been 10 years since the first edition of ‘Essentials of Tissue Banking'has been published. There is still relatively little published on the technical and scientific principles on routine tissue and cell banking based on scientific principles. The 1st edition was very successful and, after a 10 year gap, there is a need of an update and an expansion of the book's remit.The format of the book follows that of the previous edition- split into 5 sections. Management of donors and the banking of common tissues and cells; Principles of storage and processing of tissues and cells; Ensuring the safety of the products by testing the donor, the tissues and the environment, supported by a quality system and an IT infrastructure- all working within the constraints of current regulatory and ethical environments.This edition however provides a significant update. Many the chapters have been completely rewritten by different experts. Like the 1st edition, they were given a free hand in the way they wrote their chapter, with a guideline that they had to be concise, clear and up to date. The authors were also asked to provide the scientific and technical basis that provides the rationale of the processes they describe. Also, the scope of the book has been somewhat extended. In view of the fact that many cellular therapies are now routinely practiced, 2 new chapters have been added: one on the banking of haematopoietic stem cells and one on human embryonic stem cells. They have been deliberately chosen to illustrate the extreme spectrum of cellular therapies from one of the simplest to one of the most complex. The intention of the book has remained the same: to cover and update banking of current practices in essential tissue and cell banking. It is therefore hoped that by keeping the book as concise and up to date as possible, it will find a place on the shelves of many tissueestablishments.

Tissue banking is undergoing a paradigm shift. There are now a plethora of guidance and regulatory documents, in response to recent regulation. There is however, relatively little information on the scientific and technical principles on routine tissue banking practices. The information that exists is relatively old and in somewhat obscure journals. This book attempts to provide a coherent and up to date approach. Each author, who is a recognized expert in their field, was asked to illustrate the processes involved in modern tissue banking practices. Where these are based on evidence and science, they were asked to explain this in a clear and concise manner. Where evidence it is not available, the authors were asked to provide the reasons why they believe practices have developed the way they have. This could range from the precautionary principle, custom and practice, common sense approach etc. This book has been split into 5 sections: Management of donors and the banking of common tissues and cells, principles of storage and processing of tissues, ensuring safety of the products by testing the donor, the tissue and the environment, ensuring quality of the products by establishing a quality system and an IT infrastructure and the Regulatory and ethical environment in which we operate. Although it is possible to bank all types of cells, including stem cells, these are not covered in this book. The organisation and target audiences for stem cells are quite different from those of tissues. Cord blood banking, on the other hand is very similar and they have therefore been included. The intention of this book is to cover the basis of current practices, rather than future developments, such as embryonic cell developments, tissue engineering and gene therapy. These are more akin to cellular therapies. Although they share many banking similarities to tissues, their inclusion in this book would have made it too cumbersome.