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Fetal Research and Applications A Conference Summary (1994) / Chapter Skim
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Setting the Stage: Fetal Research, Fetal Tissue Research, and Historical Timeline of Regulation and Legislation
Pages 4-9

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From page 4...
... Fetal research involves both invasive and noninvasive techniques (some of which are no longer used) and has led to improved techniques of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, and to major advances in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions that threaten the survival of fetuses and pregnant women.
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From page 6...
... A1though current controversy is more closely focused on fetal tissue research, especially fetal tissue transplantation, fetal research by its nature involves the complete spectrum of ethical, legal, and social issues that attend to experiments on living fetuses in utero, embryos produced by in vitro methods, and even the very ownership of those embryos. FETAL TISSUE RESEARCH Fetal tissue research involves cells from dead fetuses that are harvested for the purpose of establishing cell lines or for use as transplantation material and other purposes.
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From page 7...
... The first use of fetal cells for transplantation occurred in 1982, when Swedish physicians transplanted fetal brain cells into a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease, a progressive degenerative disease in which cells containing the neurotransmitter dopamine begin to die. Since that time, animal and human experiments (many of the human experiments have been done outside the United States or with private funds)
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From page 8...
... , fetal research following abortion was permitted under subsequent DHEW regulations for therapeutic reasons, but otherwise held to the standard of "minimal risk." Minimal risk means that no more potential harm is tolerated than would be encountered in daily life. In the case of a fetus, almost all interventions exceed minimal risk, and the regulations did not distinguish between fetuses that were carried to term and those intended for abortion.
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From page 9...
... Concurrently, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, governing fetal tissue research, was revised and submitted for ratification by the states. 1988-1989 In March 1988, Assistant Secretary for Health Robert Windom of the Department of Health and Human Services (formerly DHEW)
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Key Terms

  • fetal tissue
  • tissue research
  • tissue transplantation
  • biomedical ethics
  • transplantation research

  • fetal cells
  • cell lines
  • therapeutic reasons
  • gift act
  • research involves

  • congressional biomedical
  • anatomical gift
  • human subjects
  • syphilis study
  • uniform anatomical

  • ethics board
  • living fetuses
  • emerged earlier
  • ethics advisory
  • current controversy

  • dhew regulations
  • research fetal
  • minimal risk
  • human experiments
  • national commission

  • tuskegee syphilis
  • research act
  • issues involved
  • involves cells
  • follows provides


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