Organ donation is the donation

Donation

A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...

 of biological tissue

Tissue (biology)

Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...

 or an organ

Organ (anatomy)

In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...

 of the human body

Human body

The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...

, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues

Transplantable organs and tissues

Transplantable organs and tissues may both refer to organs and tissues that are relatively often or routinely transplanted , as well as relatively seldom transplanted organs and tissues and ones on the experimental stage....

 are removed in a surgical procedure

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 following a determination, based on the donor's medical and social history, of which are suitable for transplantation. Such procedures are termed allotransplantation

Allotransplantation

Allotransplantation is the transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs, sourced from a genetically non-identical member of the same species as the recipient. The transplant is called an allograft or allogeneic transplant or homograft...

s, to distinguish them from xenotransplantation

Xenotransplantation

Xenotransplantation , is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Such cells, tissues or organs are called xenografts or xenotransplants...

, the transfer of animal organs into human bodies.
As recently as the late 1960s and early 1970s, irreversible cardiopulmonary failure was the only standard for determining death for purposes of donation after cardiac death.