ABSTRACT
Physicians have already transplanted kidneys and a heart from a fetus, and clinical trials are taking place in which fetal pancreatic cells are transplanted into adult diabetics. Nonprofit entities such as the American Red Cross collect and distribute human tissue. The current organ-procurement system is a poor model for the regulation of fetal tissue, because it fails to control adequately the economic value of the organ. A debate on the proper uses of fetal tissue is taking shape, and several states have already proposed regulatory initiatives. In April 1988, the Reagan administration placed a moratorium on funding by the National Institutes of Health of any research using fetal tissue for transplantation until an advisory panel that is currently meeting reports on proposed guidelines. One company is attempting to grow insulin-producing pancreatic cells from fetal cells, and has led in developing techniques for treating Parkinson's disease with transplanted fetal neural tissue.
