With the National Institutes of Health's hold on fetal tissue acquisitions, researchers seek a fetal tissue alternatives and are coming up short, according to STAT.
Three things to know:
1.The NIH contacted Madison-based University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and public Health about purchasing some of its laboratory mice. The mice contain leftover immune system cells from newborn babies after they have heart surgery. These "humanized" mice might offer scientists with a fetal tissue free alternative to conduct research, but are "highly experimental."
"The consensus is that there are certain things about fetal tissue that make [it] unique," said Paul Knoepfler, MD, a professor at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine. "Certain experiments can really only be done on actual fetal tissue.
2. There is not a fetal tissue alternative that can serve the same purposes as fetal tissue. But the NIH is allocating about $20 million to fund research on creating fetal tissue alternatives. Francis Collins, MD, director of the NIH, argued fetal tissue use is "justified."
"There is strong evidence that scientific benefits can come from fetal tissue research, which can be done with an ethical framework," Dr. Collins told Science.
3. Following the fetal tissue acquisition freeze, the NIH offered three general alternatives, which include stem cells, organoids and different kinds of humanized mice. Researchers already are using humanized mice and organoids to test and study drugs and disease.
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