The transplantation of human corneas of the eye is the most common tissue transplantation worldwide. The human tissue required for this is partly traded internationally but obtained through donations. Relatively little is known about the organisation of transnational commodity chains. Starting from a problematisation of the ontological status of human biological material in general and corneas in particular as commodity or donation, the article first places the issue in a broader discussion about the generation of biovalue through the commodification of the human body and outlines its marketisation. From this, as well as from the discussion of the state of knowledge to date and of data material on the supply of corneas, extraction rates and assumptions about global trade based on these, the article derives an approach to the analysis of this commodity chain, its organisation and regulation, which places tissue banks at the centre as intermediary actors.