The national debate over funding Planned Parenthood shed some light on the use of tissue from aborted fetuses in medical research, but American scientists have used these cells for decades. They are used to develop vaccines and to research conditions ranging from vision loss to AIDS.
The U.S. government prohibits the sale of fetal tissue for profit and requires separation between researchers and the women who donate fetuses. Women who are having an elective abortion or who are in the midst of a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) at a clinic or hospital may be asked to donate fetal tissue. Some schools take this a step further and require written consent from the women who are donating their fetuses. But the issue is so highly charged that there have been death threats against researchers known to be using tissue from aborted fetuses.
American university laboratories that use fetal cells strongly defend this type of research and stress that fetal tissue is still vital to their work. Fetal cells divide rapidly which makes them ideal for research. They are also able to adapt to new environments and are easier to transplant into other tissue.
Ninety-seven research centers received a total of $280 million in federal grants from the National Institutes of Health from 2011 through 2014 for fetal tissue research. These centers include Yale University, the University of California, and Massachusetts General Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard.
Research on spinal cord injuries and degeneration of the retina is being done that involves transplanting fetal cells into patients. European researchers have begun putting fetal tissue into patients' brains to see if the procedure can treat Parkinson's.
Vaccines for hepatitis A, rubella, chickenpox, and rabies were developed using cell lines grown from tissue from two elective abortions that were performed in the 1960s. Before the vaccine for rubella, also called German measles, was created, the disease caused about 5,000 spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) a year.
Researchers also use fetal tissue to create mice with a human immune system, as a way to study diseases without employing people as test subjects.
Some scientists are looking for alternatives to fetal tissue, such as using adult cells that have been "reprogrammed" to their earlier forms. But those techniques are still being refined, and some fields are likely to remain reliant on fetal tissue.
