The GTEx project set out to partner with organ procurement organizations (OPOs) and institutions with rapid autopsy programs to obtain the high number of normal biospecimens needed for this study.4 The expert planning group established a comprehensive set of recommendations for acquiring high-quality, normal biospecimens. A summary of the recommendations has been published4 and the full recommendations are posted for public use (http://biospecimens.cancer.gov/global/pdfs/caHUB_ANTWG_Postmortem_BPs.pdf). GTEx management used these recommendations to develop the eligibility criteria for GTEx donors (Fig. 1).
