Gray skies are gonna clear up,   Put on a happy face…

Why would I start my blog with this tune?

Because on the 16^th of April, a sea change arrived at NIH (the National Institutes of Health).

As of that date, it no longer was illegal to use fetal tissue for research- to conquer cancer, HIV, neurodegenerative diseases, and the like.

The rules affect government techies as well as university researchers.  The edict reversed another of TheDonald’s restrictive policies.  That 2019 directive demanded additional reviews by ethics advisory boards- boards populated by folks with less scientific and medical knowledge and governed more by religious beliefs.  (Please note that Alex Azar, the HHS Secretary for TheDonald, did not approve of this change- but TheDonald overrode his objections to appease the WrongWing.  And, then held off forming the skewed panels for at least a year!  Further blocking research progress.)

The new process- if one is requesting a federal grant or contract to employ fetal tissue- means the researchers must obtain prior consent to use aborted fetuses from the donors, they can’t compensate the donor, and must still comply with all other relevant state and federal- and university- requirements.

And, we still have clearing up to do.  Because the NIH didn’t eradicate the entire edict- nope.  The rules still impose the justification for why human fetal tissue is needed for the research in question. That means valuable time for thought and research is still wasted on the path to progress.

Keep in mind that fetal tissue has been instrumental in biomedical developments.  Sweden used such cells to create their polio vaccine in the 1950s.  By the 1980s, fetal tissue was grown inside mice to induce them to develop the equivalent of the human immune system.  (This allows for the study of sickle cell disease, eye disorders, cancers, etc.)

Because of the Trump blacklist, one particular study was unable to proceed- it was planning to use the fetal tissue to develop a therapy for COVID-19!

Let’s hope this can start now.

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