Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 10 June 2019

Scientists feel chill of crackdown on fetal tissue research

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, human organ, said Emory
MALCOLM RITTER and RI- University researcher Mehul
CARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Suthar. For example, the
Associated Press specific type of placental
WASHINGTON (AP) — To cell where Zika can lurk in
save babies from brain- humans isn’t thought to be
damaging birth defects, present in mouse placen-
University of Pittsburgh sci- tas.
entist Carolyn Coyne stud- And because the placenta
ies placentas from fetuses continually changes as the
that otherwise would be fetus that created it grows,
discarded — and she’s first-trimester tissue may
worried this kind of research show a very different vul-
is headed for the chopping nerability than a placenta
block. that’s expelled during full-
The Trump administration term birth, when it’s no lon-
is cracking down on fetal ger defined as fetal tissue
tissue research , with new but as medical waste.
hurdles for government- Suthar recently submitted
funded scientists around In this Tuesday, May 23, 2017 file photo, activists dressed as characters from “The Handmaid’s a new grant application
the country who call the Tale” chant in the Texas Capitol Rotunda as they protest SB8, a bill that would require health care to study first- and second-
facilities, including hospitals and abortion clinics, to bury or cremate any fetal remains whether
special cells vital for fighting from abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth, and they would be banned from donating aborted fetal trimester placental tissue,
a range of health threats. tissue to medical researchers in Austin. and is worried about its fate
Already, the administration Associated Press under the still uncertain
has shut down one univer- Human Services Depart- elimination of federal fund- Zika offers a glimpse at the ethics provision.
sity’s work using fetal tissue ment abruptly announced ing for research that uses difficulty. Somehow, the It “sounds a bit murky as
to test HIV treatments, and on Wednesday the new fetal tissue, regardless of Zika virus can sneak from to what the impact could
is ending other fetal tissue restrictions on taxpayer- how necessary it is,” said the mother’s bloodstream be,” he said. It could be
research at the National In- funded research, but not University of Wisconsin law across the placenta, which small, “or it could be an
stitutes of Health. privately funded work. professor Alta Charo, a na- protects and nourishes the outright ban on what we’re
“I knew this was some- Aside from the cancel- tionally recognized bioeth- fetus, and target the fetus’ doing.”
thing that’s going to trickle lation of an HIV-related ics expert. brain. It’s something re- Anti-abortion groups ar-
down to the rest of us,” said project at the University of Necessity is the crux of a searchers hope to learn to gue there are alternatives,
Coyne. She uses the pla- California, San Francisco, fierce debate between block. such as stem cells, growing
centa, which people may university-led projects that abortion foes and scientists Studying the placentas of organ-like clumps of cells
not think of as fetal tissue are funded by the NIH — about whether there are small animals or even mon- in lab dishes, or using tissue
but technically is classified estimated to be fewer than alternatives to fetal tissue keys isn’t a substitute be- taken from newborns as
as such because the fetus 200 — aren’t affected right for research. cause they differ from the they have heart surgery.q
produced it, to study how away.
past that protective barrier renew their funding or pro- Bioengineered salmon won’t come
viruses such as Zika get But as researchers seek to
early in pregnancy. pose new studies, HHS said
“It seems to me what we’re it will have to pass an extra from U.S.’s biggest farm state
moving toward is a ban,” layer of review, beyond to-
she added. If so, when it day’s strict scientific scru- By PATRICK WHITTLE
comes to unraveling what tiny. Each project will have Associated Press
happens in pregnancy and a federal ethics board ap- PORTLAND, Maine (AP) —
fetal development, “we’re pointed to recommend Genetically engineered
going to stay ignorant to a whether NIH should grant salmon is heading to store
lot of things.” the money. shelves in the U.S., but it
Different types of tissue left HHS hasn’t offered details won’t be coming from the
over from elective abor- but under the law authoriz- biggest salmon farming
tions have been used in ing the review process, that state in the country.
scientific research for de- board must include not just Massachusetts-based Aqu-
cades, and the work has biomedical experts but a aBounty Technologies has
been credited with leading theologian, and the na- said American supermar-
to lifesaving vaccines and tion’s health secretary can kets could begin selling
other advances. Under or- overrule its advice. the much-debated fish by This 2009 photo provided by AquaBounty Technologies shows
a juvenile salmon raised at the company s hatchery in Fortune,
ders from President Don- “I predict over time we the end of next year. Its fish Prince Edward Island, Canada.
ald Trump, the Health and will see a slow and steady are modified with added Associated Press
genes from other fish to than 35 million pounds (15.9 Maine Aquaculture Asso-
grow about twice as fast as million kilograms) of salmon ciation.
conventional salmon. per year, and its industry is Numerous conditions would
The company modifies At- poised to grow. have to be met before that
lantic salmon, a species Two new major salmon would change, including
that forms the backbone farms are in the approvals customers requesting the
of the worldwide salm- process in the state. fish in stores, he said.
on aquaculture industry. But fish farmers in Maine The group also feels the
Maine is the biggest pro- are not considering using environmental assessment
ducer of conventional At- the genetically engineered of the fish conducted by
lantic salmon in the U.S., fish, said Sebastian Belle, regulators was not rigorous
sometimes producing more executive director of the enough, Belle said. q