Scientists are concerned that the recent move in the US to limit fetal tissue research will adversely affect patients, the Associated Press reports.
The Trump Administration last week announced it was ending intramural research at the National Institutes of Health that relied on fetal tissue and that it was not renewing a contract with the University of California, San Francisco, to use fetal tissue for HIV research. While ongoing, federally funded research at universities isn't yet affected, new projects and projects seeking to be renewed are to undergo an extra review.
While proponents of ending fetal tissue research argue there are other means of conducting these studies — such as by using stem cells or tissue from newborns undergoing surgery — many researchers have told the Department of Health and Human Services that these alternative approaches don't work for all types of studies, the AP adds.
"Other countries work with this in a regulated fashion and they will continue to outstrip us," R. Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin law professor, tells the AP. "We have allowed patients' interests to become collateral damage in the abortion wars."