In a blow to science, Trump administration aborts federal funding for fetal tissue research
The Trump administration’s ossified stance on reproductive rights is now set to interrupt scientific research. On Wednesday, medical research funding for NIH scientists using fetal tissue was aborted, along with a multimillion-dollar contract with the University of California that involves research using fetal tissue derived from elective abortions to test HIV therapies.
Fetal tissue, harvested from dead fetuses — from induced or natural abortions — is used as transplantation material or to create cell lines. These cell lines can be utilized to test a drug’s ability to damage genetic material or to test the effects of specific viral (or other types) of infection. Since fetal cells multiply — a small number derived from a dead fetus can be easily expanded and used either as a source of more cell lines or for transplants.
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