Subject(s)
Communication , Leadership , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/organization & administration , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/trends , Politics , Science , Behavioral Research , Biomedical Research/organization & administration , Biomedical Research/trends , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/prevention & control , Federal Government , Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Gain of Function Mutation , Gene Editing/ethics , Gene Editing/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/legislation & jurisprudence , Risk-Taking , Science/trends , United StatesABSTRACT
Research using human fetal tissue has saved millions of lives through vaccines and other advances, but was markedly restricted by federal regulations in 2019. Although the restrictions were partially reversed in 2021, additional regulatory changes are needed to prevent further damage to essential research programs while preserving protection for human subjects.
Subject(s)
Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Social Control, Formal , Adult , Aged , Female , Fetal Research/ethics , Government , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , National Institutes of Health (U.S.) , Research Support as Topic/economics , Self Report , United StatesSubject(s)
COVID-19 , Diplomacy , Leadership , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/organization & administration , Racism/prevention & control , Biomedical Research/economics , Biomedical Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Biomedical Research/organization & administration , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/epidemiology , China , Female , Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Financing, Organized , Humans , International Cooperation , Male , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/economics , Research Support as Topic , United States , Post-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeABSTRACT
Some have argued that human fetal tissue research is unnecessary and/or immoral. Recently, the Trump administration has taken the drastic--and we believe misguided--step to effectively ban government-funded research on fetal tissue altogether. In this article, we show that entire lines of research and their clinical outcomes would not have progressed had fetal tissue been unavailable. We argue that this research has been carried out in a manner that is ethical and legal, and that it has provided knowledge that has saved lives, particularly those of pregnant women, their unborn fetuses, and newborns. We believe that those who support a ban on the use of fetal tissue are halting medical progress and therefore endangering the health and lives of many, and for this they should accept responsibility. At the very least, we challenge them to be true to their beliefs: if they wish to short-circuit a scientific process that has led to medical advances, they should pledge to not accept for themselves the health benefits that such advances provide.
Subject(s)
Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Animals , Capital Financing/ethics , Capital Financing/legislation & jurisprudence , Fetal Research/ethics , Government , Humans , Medical Missions/ethics , Medical Missions/legislation & jurisprudence , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/ethics , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesSubject(s)
Federal Government , Fetal Research/ethics , Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Fetus , Financing, Organized/legislation & jurisprudence , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/legislation & jurisprudence , Research Personnel/legislation & jurisprudence , Financing, Organized/ethics , Humans , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/economics , Politics , Research Personnel/economics , United StatesSubject(s)
Alzheimer Disease , Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Indiana , UniversitiesSubject(s)
Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , United States Dept. of Health and Human Services/legislation & jurisprudence , Animals , Fetal Research/ethics , Humans , Mice , National Institutes of Health (U.S.)/legislation & jurisprudence , United States , United States Food and Drug Administration/legislation & jurisprudenceSubject(s)
Fetal Diseases , Fetal Research , Information Dissemination , Fetal Research/ethics , Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Health Information Exchange/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Information Dissemination/legislation & jurisprudence , Information Dissemination/methods , Publishing/ethics , Publishing/standardsSubject(s)
Federal Government , Fetal Research/ethics , Fetal Research/legislation & jurisprudence , Politics , Abortion, Induced/ethics , Conflict of Interest , Fantasy , Human Embryonic Stem Cells , Humans , Research Personnel/ethics , Research Report , Stem Cell Research/ethics , Stem Cell Research/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine has major therapeutic potential. Recent clinical trials using cells derived from human stem cells are showing encouraging results, although these should be assessed with the necessary caution. DISCUSSION: Some media have reported the results of these trials without due care, perhaps creating expectations that do not match the reality of the facts. This paper describes some of the recent advances in the use of human stem cells, particularly those made in the area of ophthalmology, and more specifically, in Stargardt's disease and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We also present promising studies with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), aimed at obtaining retinal pigmented epithelium and light-sensitive retinal rods in the aforementioned ocular diseases, with encouraging preclinical and clinical results. CONCLUSIONS: From a medical point of view, we must not forget that the transplanted retinal epithelium cells may cause tumours, since they have been obtained from Embryonic Stem cells, and may trigger immune rejection problems since they are heterologous. These considerations attest to the ethical uncertainty of the results of these clinical trials, but above all, it must be stressed that whenever Embryonic Stem cells are used, a human embryo must be destroyed to obtain them, which of course has objective ethical difficulties.