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How does the tissue bank do its work?

'Since tissue rapidly changes after death it is important to collect and preserve it as quickly as possible,' says Dr Simon Hawke, neurologist and clinical director of the tissue bank; 'So we aim to collect tissue within four to 24 hours. However, donated tissue is still valuable, regardless of the length of time taken to collect it, since it can also be used for a number of important scientific studies that are not so sensitive to the delay time.'

As tissue obtained shortly after death is the most valuable to scientists, it is vital that donors discuss their wishes with those close to them: their next-of-kin or legal representative, GP or any other relevant person. The more people who know of a person's wish to donate tissue, the more chance there is that no one will forget about it at the critical moment. When someone dies, their body becomes the property of their next-of-kin, so it is important that they understand and endorse a pledge to the tissue bank.

What happens after death?

At, or near the time of death, a person's next-of-kin, legal representative or GP should contact the tissue bank by ringing a 24-hour telephone number. One of the tissue bank team will be available at all times and will ring back and ask for details. That person will then arrange for the funeral director to take the body to a hospital near the home or place of death to remove the brain, spinal cord, and any other tissue being donated.

A member of the tissue bank team will immediately collect the tissue from the hospital. This process should only add a few hours to the arrangements already made by relatives or carers and will not incur any extra costs.

If someone has a fatal accident, emergency personnel need to know immediately of their wish to donate tissue for research into MS. It is therefore important that people carry their donor card at all times so that the tissue bank can be told.

What happens to donated tissue?

Tissue, once removed, will be taken to Charing Cross Hospital where a team of people will categorise it, prepare it for storage and make it available to researchers for further use. A neuropathologist will examine some of the tissue samples to confirm the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and inform the donor's GP.

It is also essential that the tissue bank received donations of tissue from people who do not have MS. Interpretation of research results using MS tissue can only be made by comparison with tissue from people without MS.

Sometimes it is important to have control tissue matched for age and sex, and sometimes it is useful to compare MS tissue with that from people with other neurological conditions. So this is something that everyone can be involved in, whether they have MS or not.