This book is the culmination of many years of working in the fields of organ tissue transplantation and research in an academic and policy advisory context, leading me to a conviction of the urgent need for a unifying legal and ethical donation framework incorporating various central concepts and principles. The necessarily complex policy-making in this sphere is a function of the fact that humans themselves are the ‘therapy’ or ‘research material’ here, involved in a uniquely human activity. These are consequently areas which not only preserve but also reflect our humanity.

I am very grateful in the making of this book for the assistance received from the staff at Cambridge University Press, and in particular Finola O’Sullivan, Brenda Burke and Richard Woodham, and to Martin Wilkinson for his hugely helpful remarks in regard to two of the most substantial parts of the book. Mostly of course, my thanks and love are directed to my long-suffering wife Arlene, whose support is profoundly appreciated.