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Studied specimens
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openMINDS supports the representation of two explicit types of specimens: `"Subject" <https://openminds-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/schema_specifications/core/research/subject.html>`_ (referring to a whole organism) and `"TissueSample" <https://openminds-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/schema_specifications/core/research/tissueSample.html>`_ (referring to an extracted or artifically grown tissue). Moreover, openMINDS supports the additional or alternative representation of individual specimens as respective sets, referred to as `"SubjectGroup" <https://openminds-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/schema_specifications/core/research/subjectGroup.html>`_ and `"TissueSampleCollection" <https://openminds-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/schema_specifications/core/research/tissueSampleCollection.html#>`_. 

Time dependencies of specimen properties
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For each specimen (set), openMINDS distinguishes timepoint-independent from timepoint-dependent properties which are captured separately in a specimen (set) state. Each specimen (set) is therewith linked to at least one specimen (set) state.

Descendence of specimens
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openMINDS also supports you to identify if a specific state of a specimen (set) **descents from** a particular state of another specimen (set). For example, an unfixated state of a tissue sample can descent from an anaesthetized state of a subject as result of a biopsy, or an unmounted state of a tissue sample collection can descent from a fixated state of a tissue sample as result of a tissue slicing procedure.