Moral Concerns and the Willingness to Donate to a Research Biobank

Research biobanks are increasing in number and importance, with great potential for advancing knowledge of human health, disease, and treatment.1 Recruitment of donors is vital to their success and relies largely on blanket consent, in which donors give one-time permission for any future research uses of their coded specimen. This approach to consent has been endorsed recently in proposed changes to federal regulations.2 Previous studies suggest that donors may have moral, religious, and cultural concerns about the use to which their specimens are put, which may affect their willingness to give blanket consent.3,4 These earlier studies, however, used convenience samples unrepresentative of the US population.