(Au) Sydney team uses foetuses in study

[Guest guest]

Sydney team uses foetuses in study

By Deborah Smith, Science Writer

Sydney Morning Herald

August 7 2002

 

Sydney stem cell scientists have revealed they are already using tissue from

aborted human foetuses in research, arguing the practice is ethically

acceptable.

 

The admission, by Bernie Tuch, director of the pancreas transplant unit at

the Prince of Wales Hospital, will fuel debate ahead of a parliamentary

conscience vote on stem cell legislation.

 

The Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, is among MPs to have expressed

concern at the use of foetal tissue, after a leading Melbourne stem cell

researcher said this week that his team was considering it.

 

THE USES OF FOETAL TISSUE

For medical researchers there are three main uses for tissue from aborted

human foetuses:

• Diagnosis of disease. Some viruses, for example, need to be grown on the

tissue for identification.

• Understanding foetal develop ment. Processes such as eye growth can be

studied in foetuses of different ages.

• Basic research. One example is studying the effects of high- sugar

solutions on the kidney.

 

 

----------

----

 

 

Professor Tuch said yesterday his Sydney team had begun to use human

foetuses as a source of tissue on which to grow their embryonic stem cells

several months ago. Previously they had only used mouse foetuses.

 

The team - the only one in Sydney studying human embryonic stem cells - is

looking for a cure for diabetes. They are trying to turn the embryonic

cells, which were extracted from days-old IVF embryos donated by women in

Singapore, into insulin-producing cells.

 

Professor Tuch said embryonic stem cells grown in the presence of mouse

tissue could not be turned into treatments for people, because of the risk

of transmitting mouse viruses.

 

Australian scientists had been using human foetal tissue for decades for

other projects. " It is perfectly legitimate to use it, bearing in mind what

we are trying to achieve. " Professor Tuch oversees the distribution to

researchers of foetal tissue donated by women attending four Sydney abortion

clinics. Last year, 56 foetuses were donated, and 203 tissue samples were

studied by about eight research teams.

 

Controls were strict. Women were required to give written permission and use

of the tissue had to be approved by the ethics committee of the research

institution.

 

A Liberal senator, Guy Barnett, is among those to have attacked the possible

use of foetal material in stem cell research as " giving some bizarre moral

foundation to abortions " .

 

Debate was sparked by a report in the Herald on Monday, in which Professor

Alan Trounson, of Monash University, said he would consider using foetal

tissue for the culture layer.