INSIGHT – Fetal Tissue Research Declining, Still Important

August 3, 2015

(Reuters) – A political battle over the use of fetal tissue in medical research has been reinvigorated by the release of undercover videos targeting Planned Parenthood officials. But the controversy comes just as interest in the use of fetal tissue is dwindling, scientists said. Newer, less-controversial technologies, including the “reprogramming” of adult skin cells to create specific types of stem cells, have rendered fetal tissue less central – though still important – to medical research, they said.