The Development of Recommendations for Legacy Anatomical Collections: A Tale of Two Approaches

Legacy anatomical collections are literally "skeletons in the closet" in many anatomy, anthropology, and other institutions where human tissues may be found. There are not only bones in these collections but fetuses, histological slides, and other human tissues that were obtained decades ago in a very different ethical landscape. The provenance of these tissues is often unknown, with documentation missing and no other means of identifying their origin or history. After recent scandals regarding the abuse of tissues of the deceased increased public attention, several American professional organizations developed new recommendations for the use, storage, and disposition of these human tissues. This manuscript discusses the formation, operations, and conclusions of guidelines from two associations: The American Association for Anatomy Recommendations for the Management of Legacy Anatomical Collections (Cornwall et al. 2024a) and the American Anthropological Association Commission for the Ethical Treatment of Human Remains Final Report (Agarwal et al. 2024). These recommendations inform the memberships of their respective organizations on the proper treatment of human remains and they also lay the foundation and framework for the proper ethical oversight of legacy human tissues in many other domains.