Fetal Tissue Transplantation: An Ethical Analysis
Fetal tissue research has been going on for decades in the United States. In the early years of research, tissue was used in developing particular cell lines and for safety testing of vaccines. In the last fifteen years, after numerous animal studies, medical technology has made it possible to use fetal tissue for transplantation in humans.l Such transplantation research is now being done in three areas. Human fetal liver tissue and thymus tissue are being transplanted into patients in the attempt to treat inherited and acquired diseases of the blood and of the immune system, as well as inherited diseases of metabolism. For example, transplants have been performed on patients with DiGeorge's syndrome, severe combined immune deficiency (SeID), leukemia, aplastic enemia, inherited metabolic disorders, as well as persons injured by radiation. Transplantation for DiGeorge's syndrome is now the treatment of choice for that particular disease. Transplantation, however, for the other diseases is still on the experimentallevel.2 Fetal pancreatic tissue is now being used for the treatment of type I diabetes. Early results of such experimental transplantations indicate no adverse reactions and good cell-survival rates, with insulin requirements reduced in some cases.3 Animal studies have indicated that transplanting fetal neural tissue from the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system may offer significant therapeutic benefit for a variety of neurologic disorders and trauma. For example, there has been success in treating patients with Parkinson's disease, a common degenerative neurologic iUness.4 There is debate within the scientific and medical communities over the therapeutic benefit of fetal tissue transplantation into humans. The experiments carried out so far look promising but they are still at a very early stage. The common source of fetal tissue for research and therapy purposes is from induced or spontaneous abortions. Fetal tissue is preferred to adult tissue because it is believed to:s