Here’s an example of two trains heading toward each other on the same track.  A couple of years ago, a federal district court ruled that tissue acquired for research belongs to the institution where it was collected-i.e. neither the patient from whom it was taken nor the researchers for whom it was held.  That’s one train of thought; the other is the idea that “personalized medicine” involves greater patient participation, including use of their own tissue if they wish to seek treatment or clinical trials elsewhere. This story from the Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that federal standards and regulations have to be established for biorepositories as part of realizing personalized medicine.            MORE