How necessary is fetal tissue?

[Symphonic]

As I was reading this article on CNN about how scientists created a brain by simply using skin cells and essentially morphing them into a basic stage of cells, and then teaching the cells how to make a different structure.

Here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/health...ids/index.html



Do you think that fetal tissue actually helps scientists who apparently don't need it? Why bother getting fetal tissue when you can get skin cells and grow body parts that way?

(NOTE: This is not an abortion thread, it is merely about whether fetal tissue is actually providing more benefits or not.)

In my opinion, it sure is a lot easier to get skin cells!

[Independent voter]

People talk about the ban on fetal tissue research in the US was a bad thing. Lot's of good came out of it in that scientists found lots of ways of getting around fetal tissue, even using undifferentiated cells from the patient's own body.

[wheresmywoft]

How do you think they got to this stage?

[Symphonic]

How do you think they got to this stage?

I'm not a scientist, go ahead and explain how they got to that stage. Unless you're saying that because of fetal tissue they discovered how to morph skin cells into a state that could accept a new "program" to build a new structure. I don't know if that's true or not, and your question does nothing but make it seem like you know something everyone else doesn't, and are not sharing.

[Powerogue]

Obviously once we can use tissue directly from the patient it'll work the best, to avoid compatibility issues. It's good that we're getting there, regardless of what was necessary to reach that point.

I'm in favor of long-term good. It's not like people are actively killing and harvesting babies. (that I know of)

[wheresmywoft]

I'm not a scientist, go ahead and explain how they got to that stage. Unless you're saying that because of fetal tissue they discovered how to morph skin cells into a state that could accept a new "program" to build a new structure. I don't know if that's true or not, and your question does nothing but make it seem like you know something everyone else doesn't, and are not sharing.

Through research? The collective of human knowledge is built upon gradual incremental improvement, things don't just happen because.

[Reeve]

My understanding is that fetal tissue is still superior quality to IPS cells.

[Symphonic]

Through research? The collective of human knowledge is built upon gradual incremental improvement, things don't just happen because.

Okay, you're being too vague to be comprehended. "How do you think they got to this stage?" "Through Research," duh. Thanks for the insight. I don't think you're making the point you are trying to make. Instead of asking how we got to this stage and stating it was through research, stay on topic and discuss whether fetal tissue contributed to this breakthrough or not, because if it's not, seems unnecessary. Being vague does not provide any value to the conversation and makes yourself sound like someone who just wants to stir the pot.

[ItachiZaku]

My understanding is that fetal tissue is still superior quality to IPS cells.

Nice.

*clicks harvest*

[Reeve]

Nice.

*clicks harvest*

If you can get better science out of something that's already dead, sounds like a win to me.

[Total Crica]

If you can get better science out of something that's already dead, sounds like a win to me.

i agree - the crime is in killing (not all killing is a crime, i know), not in researching that which is dead

[Malachi256]

We have found that embryonic stem cells are good at making tumors in adults. That's at least one big reason why you don't hear much about the stem cell debate anymore.

[unfilteredJW]

"This is not an abortion thread" stated in the very thinly disguised abortion thread.

[Reeve]

i agree - the crime is in killing (not all killing is a crime, i know), not in researching that which is dead

I'm not against abortion in general (I don't think a fetus is a person), but I agree with you that it's a completely separate issue from use of the dead tissue. Once it's dead, there's really not much reason not to make use of it.

[Deleted]

As I was reading this article on CNN about how scientists created a brain by simply using skin cells and essentially morphing them into a basic stage of cells, and then teaching the cells how to make a different structure.

Here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/health...ids/index.html




Do you think that fetal tissue actually helps scientists who apparently don't need it? Why bother getting fetal tissue when you can get skin cells and grow body parts that way?

(NOTE: This is not an abortion thread, it is merely about whether fetal tissue is actually providing more benefits or not.)

In my opinion, it sure is a lot easier to get skin cells!

Not a brain, a brain organoid. Same as, for example, the model of the hull of a plane used to test or teach some aerodynamic properties of it, is not a plane.

Other than this minor nitpick, there are a few issues with IPSCs - their stability and quality, the efficiency of the process, some stuff like that. Sure, they're useful for some diagnostic applications already.

Otoh why would anyone have any problems with using fetal tissue samples for anything? If we don't have a problem with abortion (which we shouldn't have), why not use the fetal tissue?

[Reeve]

I think in the long run, once we understand what is going on with fetal tissue, etc, research on that will stop and we will switch to genetically triggered, or nanobot related tech.

Till that time, unfortunately - like animal testing - fetal tissue research will be a reality.

There are computer models that will replace animal testing, and fetal testing, but not before we understand both well enough.

Why unfortunately?

[Lava Bucket]

It's still necessary to use aborted fetal tissue for research in a number of medical fields. In order to understand exactly why adult human cells or animal cells can't be used in every application, you would need to do a considerable amount of studying in the fields of biology and biochemistry.

In layman's terms, some fetal cells are more easily transformed into other cells that are needed to model certain biological systems in adult humans. There has been some success with using adult human cells for these models, but every model has its flaws. Fetal cells are still better than adult cells in a number of important ways. When it comes to curing Parkinson's disease or developing a vaccine that could save thousands of lives, we must ask ourselves if we're willing to use tissue from fetuses that is obtained legally to discover critical advances in medicine.

[Reeve]

Because it is casing political shows, and people on both sides messing with each others emotions... basically creating a waste of time and causing bickering.

If we can do it without the political hoopla, with computers, or other models, I think we will be better off.

The political hoopla will be there regardless. Better that it's about something meaningless.

[unbound]

Plenty online where you can learn the real story instead of relying on the largely ideologues that lurk on MMO-C.

http://time.com/3965176/fetal-tissue...enthood-video/

http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/2015...issue-research

http://www.ascb.org/newsfiles/fetaltissue.pdf

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0Q63BX20150803

[I Push Buttons]

Okay, you're being too vague to be comprehended. "How do you think they got to this stage?" "Through Research," duh. Thanks for the insight. I don't think you're making the point you are trying to make. Instead of asking how we got to this stage and stating it was through research, stay on topic and discuss whether fetal tissue contributed to this breakthrough or not, because if it's not, seems unnecessary. Being vague does not provide any value to the conversation and makes yourself sound like someone who just wants to stir the pot.

The very article you linked conveys the point he is getting at...

"...taking the skin cells, reverting them back to a basic stage of development and then teaching them how to turn into the cells that make up the brain..."

How do you think they would know how to alter cells in a basic stage of development to function in a new way if not for stem cell research?