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#Moderna embryonic stem cells skin#

One might be able to conceive of her case as one analogous to an adult organ donator who had died from a violent crime and who donates an organ to someone who had nothing to do with his or her death. 10 He did not therefore assist in any way in the 1972 abortion of the female fetus whose embryonic kidney cells he turned into the HEK-293 cell line in 1973. 9In addition, Frank Graham, the original researcher establishing HEK-293, declares to have no knowledge of what had happened to the fetus and of where the cell had come from. 8 At least in the case of HEK-293, however, this would seem to be the more likely scenario, as significant time had passed between the original abortion in about 1972 and the production of the cell line in 1973. Helen Watts makes a strong point when she argues that such scenario generally speaking extremely unlikely.

even if the fetus died on account of an induced abortion, it is at least thinkable that the researcher using the fetal cells to produce a cell line did not formally cooperate with that abortion, benefiting from someone else’s evil action without previously having encouraged it in any way.

it is at least thinkable that a fetus providing the original cells died on account of a spontaneous abortion and that his or her case could be understood in terms analogous to an adult organ donator who has died from a natural death (the mother expressing consent on his or her behalf).

For the following reflections it will nonetheless be important to keep in mind that The use of fetal cells to produce cell lines would in most scenarios seem to constitutes an instrumentalizing use of these fetuses, particularly if they have been victims of an induced abortion. What is increasingly being lost today, however, is the awareness of the fact that human embryos and human fetuses, too, are human beings, who must be treated with the same respect as is due to human beings already born. All people of good will agree that it is never morally licit to use human beings as mere tools, as happens, for instance, in slavery or organ trafficking. 7 It is the fact of these abortions that makes the question of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines an issue. The PER.C6 line was obtained from an 18-week-old fetus, aborted in 1985. Given that the fetus was healthy, it is it is highly improbable that the abortion was spontaneous. 6 The precise circumstances of the abortion can no longer be established with certainty. The fact of the matter is, however, that the HEK-293 cell line did derive from the human embryonic kidney cells (hence “HEK”) of a female fetus aborted around the year 1972, while the cell lines themselves were generated in 1973. 5įetal cells are not used in the production of the vaccines, nor does the research on or preparation of the vaccines increase the demand for newly aborted fetuses.

#Moderna embryonic stem cells skin#

Alternatively, they serve to reproduce the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which, once injected under the skin will cause the desired immune reaction. In the preparation of the majority of the vaccines available, these cell lines have been used as a sort of miniature factory to produce high quantities of adenoviruses which are used as vectors to introduce certain genes of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus into the vaccine, which will then stimulate the immune response in those vaccinated. In the preparation of anti-COVID-19 vaccines, two cell lines have been of particular relevance: the HEK-293 and the PER.C6 cell lines. Once these cell lines have been produced by the manipulation of the original cells, they enjoy a quasi-immortality and can be multiplied almost indefinitely.

4įrom the outset it must be made clear that the research on and production of vaccines making use of human cell lines does not necessitate the continued utilization of ever new human embryos or fetuses. 3 In December 2020 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has issued another statement on the matter with specific application to the question of the preparation and use of vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (CDF 2020). Prior to this emergency, the issue has been dealt with by three ecclesial pronouncements: a 2005 note by the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV 2005), Instruction Dignitas Personae by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF 2009), 2 and another note by the Pontifical Academy for Life in 2017 (PAV 2017). Has received new urgency because of the current worldwide COVID-19 health crisis. to be vaccinated with a vaccine of such pedigree.to use these cell lines for the research on or the production of vaccines, and.to produce cell lines from embryonic and fetal cells,.