Guidance and resources for establishments licenced under our Post-Mortem sector

The purpose of this guidance is to set out our policy on human tissue xenografts, whether they are relevant material that fall under the licensing framework of the HT Act 2004 and the consent implications.

This page sets out the legal requirements of the HT Act with regard to consent for post-mortem examination, tissue retention and storage of tissue from the deceased.

Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, the HTA is required to license the storage of relevant material for ‘research in connection with disorders, or the functioning, of the human body’. This requirement applies to the storage of all relevant material, whether it has come from a living or a deceased person, and applies across all of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Human Tissue Act 2004 requires that the removal of tissue from the deceased for research within the scope of the Act must always be licensed, on specified premises, and that specific minimum requirements are met.

This means that if, for example, a person wishes to remove relevant material from a deceased organ donor for research ‘in connection with disorders, or the functioning, of the human body’, the removal must always take place on premises licensed by the HTA for that purpose.

Human bodies, body parts and specimens may be put on public display, for example as part of an exhibition in a gallery or museum. If they are from the body of a deceased person who died less than 100 years ago, the premises must be licensed by the HTA for public display.

Human bodies, body parts and specimens may be put on public display, for example as part of an exhibition in a gallery or museum. If they are from the body of a deceased person who died less than 100 years ago, the premises must be licensed by the HTA for public display.

Some schools and colleges store human material for use in teaching. Such specimens could include cells on a microscope slide, specimens preserved in formalin, skulls, and partial or complete skeletons. 

Under the Human Tissue Act 2004 (‘the HT Act’), human material which contains cells is called ‘relevant material’.

Guidance and resources for establishments licenced under our Public Display sector