Fetal Stem Cells

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I have been reading more and more about fetal stem cells lately. Here is an example from Genetic Engineering News:

Stem cells are cells that can produce additional stem cells as well as one or more other types of cells. Pluripotent stem cells can develop into most, if not all, of the tissues of the organism. To date, two types of mammalian stem cells have been shown to be truly pluripotent: the well-known embryonic stem cells (ES cells), which are cultured from very early embryos... and the lesser-known embryonic germ cells (EG cells), which are developed from fetal gonadal tissue.
Often fetal stem cells are presented as an acceptable alternative to embryonic stem cells (ES), and also available for federal funding:
While the widespread use of ES cells has been hampered by ethical issues and government funding limitations, Congressional legislation treats fetal tissue differently. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has stated that research involving the derivation and use of EG cells may be conducted with Federal support.

Not surprisingly, most stories on fetal stem cells fail to mention where the fetal tissue comes from. So what exactly are fetal stem cells and where do they come from? Well, read here and here and then come back and I will comment.

Now that we know how researchers obtain fetal stem cells (in case you missed it or are "click-challenged", fetal stem cells usually come from aborted babies), why are researchers looking at them as a source of pluripotent stem cells?

From William Saletan's Organ Factory:

But if the goal is tissue, clones aren't less useful after 14 days. They're more useful, precisely because they're differentiating into the cell types that patients need. Why stop research at 14 days?

Four years ago, a team led by John Gearhart, one of the field's top researchers, published a study of cells "derived and cultured from 5-, 6-, 7-, and 11-week postfertilization primordial germ cells." The derived cells, unlike hES cell lines from embryos before 14 days, caused no tumors when they were injected into mice. Gearhart's team found that the derived cells "may be useful … as a resource for cellular transplantation therapies."


Saletan's point is that fetal stem cells are more desirable than embryonic stem cells because they are more differentiated so they do not cause tumors. One of the major hurdles with ESCs is that researchers need to get them to differentiate into the tissue of interest in a petri dish. Saletan's asks why not let the fetus do it for them? If we allow the destruction of embryos for tissue, why stop there? Why not use fetuses too? He asks:

Once you say we can do this much of it, what's the difference?
So is research on fetal stem cells unethical? Well, like with embryonic stem cells, it depends on how the stem cells are obtained. Using aborted babies for a source of stem cells is not only repugnant but also highly unethical.

Some would say, "Well if they are going to be aborted anyway, why not put the tissue to good use?" I say, "Why stop at stem cells? Why not use aborted babies as a source of organs or eggs for IVF and cloning, or as health food?"

The slippery slope here is staggering. Aborting babies by the millions in the name of choice is sickening, but creating a market for aborted baby tissue is terrifying not just for the babies but for the women who will be used as incubators, then put through the horrors of abortion for the "greater good of society."

That being said, is there an ethical way to obtain fetal stem cells? Absolutely. Just as we find organ donation as an acceptable way to obtain life saving organs, obtaining fetal stem cells from miscarriages would be ethical. But, donated miscarried babies are not as abundant as aborted babies; so I doubt miscarriages will be the "source of choice."

I predict fetal stem cells will be a more and more prominent feature in stories on stem cell successes, but I am sure the media and companies that profit from aborted babies will still fail to mention exactly where the fetal tissue comes from.

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