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Thread: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

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    Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    washingtonpost.com
    Fetal Tissue Heals Burns
    Tests Show Treatment Led to Normal Skin Regrowth




    By David Brown
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Thursday, August 18, 2005; A02


    An experimental therapy that uses skin cells grown from an aborted fetus successfully healed severe burns in eight children, sparing them the need for skin grafts, according to a study published today.

    The treatment led to the regrowth of essentially normal skin on second- and third-degree burns in about two weeks, according to the report by a Swiss research team. The scarring and tissue contraction seen after many burns did not occur, and dressing changes were easier and less painful, the researchers said.

    The fetal tissue promotes growth of the patient's own skin cells rather than becoming incorporated into the recipient's skin as a true "graft." Further, it appears that a piece of fetal skin smaller than a postage stamp could be used to produce enough cells to treat hundreds of patients.

    "The results were sort of unexpected. . . . These constructs seem to work as a biological Band-Aid, promoting spontaneous healing of the patient," said Patrick Hohlfeld of University Hospital of Lausanne, who was one of the researchers.

    The study will appear in a future edition of the Lancet and was published online today.
    Cells grown from the foreskin of circumcised newborns and large pieces of skin removed from cadavers are sometimes used to cover burns and promote healing. The Swiss researchers were the first to use cells from a fetus -- a 14-week male whose mother gave permission at the time of abortion.

    Burns that destroy the outer skin layer -- the epidermis -- heal on their own. Ones that go deep into the second layer -- the dermis -- require skin grafts, patches of skin sliced off one part of the body, often the thigh, and transferred to the burned area. So-called third-degree burns that destroy the entire dermis and leave muscle or bone exposed also need grafts.

    Several burn experts said the technique sounded promising, but its usefulness is not yet proved.

    "I can't say whether it's a leap forward before we know how it compares with standard wound care," said Roger W. Yurt, head of the burn center at Weill Cornell Medical Center, in New York.

    "This is certainly work worth following with great eagerness. But in the absence of comparisons, it would be very difficult to assess the difference that the fetal cells bring," said Robert Sheridan, chief of burn medicine at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston.

    Deciding which second-degree burns need skin grafts is often a matter of judgment.

    "Were they helping heal a burn that was going to heal on its own?" asked Gary Purdue, director of the burn center at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. "It's good if it helps do that, but it may be only an incremental advance."

    The Swiss researchers used a patch of fetal skin 1.5 inches square. They grew cells from it in tissue culture and let the cells spread out on sheets of a material called collagen, forming a kind of artificial skin. They cut that into pieces 3 1/2 by 5 inches and placed about four of them on 10-day-old burns in eight children. The burns were second- and third-degree, they said, and all would normally have undergone skin grafting.

    The fetal-cell material disappeared, but it was not incorporated into the regenerating skin. The scientists determined that by testing the genes in a piece of skin taken from a healed burn in a female patient. The skin contained no male cells, which it would have if it contained any of the fetal material.

    Skin cells secrete numerous chemical "growth factors" that cause progenitor skin cells to divide, spread out and attach to one another. Exactly how they differ from the cells of newborns or adults is uncertain.

    "We are very busy with the characterization of these cells and their byproducts," Hohlfeld said.

    A main problem with healed but heavily scarred burns is that they contract, limiting the motion of joints. Grafts frequently leave an uneven contour on the skin surface. Neither of these problems occurred in the eight children, according to the report. There was "total recovery of mobility, especially in hands and fingers."

    The patients have been followed for one to two years. There was some color change in some areas, but the overall appearance of the healed burns was good, Hohlfeld said.

    The team calculated that the small piece taken in this case could ultimately produce more than 2 million of the squares that were put on the burns.

    One fetus could theoretically provide material for hundreds or thousands of burn victims, although Hohlfeld said he suspected that would not remove some people's objections to the use of tissue from an aborted fetus.


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    Class of 2023 George Foster's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    This is the slippery slope that we as a nation are going down with legal abortion. What's next? extracting organs from aborted babies for our use.
    Does anybody else see how dangerous this is and how immoral. "Let's grow them, cut them up for our use, and then throw them in the dumpster." May God have mercy on their little souls.

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    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    One fetus could theoretically provide material for hundreds or thousands of burn victims
    If this is true, there wouldn't be a need to set up "abortion factories" and mass-produce fetuses.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

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    I hate the Cubs LoganBuck's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
    If this is true, there wouldn't be a need to set up "abortion factories" and mass-produce fetuses.
    To me it is still an unacceptable price.
    Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.

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    Member CTA513's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by George Foster
    "Let's grow them, cut them up for our use, and then throw them in the dumpster."
    So it would kind of be like that movie "The Island"?


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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
    If this is true, there wouldn't be a need to set up "abortion factories" and mass-produce fetuses.
    Also, the democrats could finally put an end to their policy of "forced abortions for all."
    We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by George Foster
    This is the slippery slope that we as a nation are going down with legal abortion. What's next? extracting organs from aborted babies for our use.
    Does anybody else see how dangerous this is and how immoral. "Let's grow them, cut them up for our use, and then throw them in the dumpster." May God have mercy on their little souls.
    And the theocratic authoritarian regimes of many islamic countries are what you get when you slide down that good old "slippery slope" the other direction.

    The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.
    We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by George Foster
    "Let's grow them, cut them up for our use, and then throw them in the dumpster."
    Sounds fantastic to me.

    In fact, I say we use female felons as "carriers." Just think, these criminals would be providing a valuable service to society as opposed to just being a drain on our tax dollars. Sure, she ran over her husband three times, but she also saved two lives by carrying spare parts in her uterus for us.

    That's redemption, baby.
    "It's easier to give up. I'm not a very vocal player. I lead by example. I take the attitude that I've got to go out and do it. Because of who I am, I've got to give everything I've got to come back."
    -Ken Griffey Jr.

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    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    To me it is still an unacceptable price.
    Not all aborted fetuses come from mothers who don't want their children. Sometimes abortions are conducted because the survivability of the child is low or because there is a danger to the mother's life. And you also have to consider miscarriages.

    If fetal tissue from these cases can be used to treat literally hundreds of thousands of burn victims, I don't see how anyone could have a problem with that.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
    Not all aborted fetuses come from mothers who don't want their children. Sometimes abortions are conducted because the survivability of the child is low or because there is a danger to the mother's life. And you also have to consider miscarriages.

    If fetal tissue from these cases can be used to treat literally hundreds of thousands of burn victims, I don't see how anyone could have a problem with that.
    Is that straight from David Hume or a paraphrase?
    "Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"

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    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Is that straight from David Hume or a paraphrase
    Who is David Hume? I've never heard of him.
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

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    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by George Foster
    This is the slippery slope that we as a nation are going down with legal abortion. What's next? extracting organs from aborted babies for our use.
    Does anybody else see how dangerous this is and how immoral. "Let's grow them, cut them up for our use, and then throw them in the dumpster." May God have mercy on their little souls.
    Perhaps then we shouldn't use murder victims' body parts for organ donation or things of that nature.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    Chip is right

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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool
    Who is David Hume? I've never heard of him.
    That makes two of us.

    Sorry, I have to go, it's time for dinner. Tonight's menu is aborted fetuses.

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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by Chip R
    Perhaps then we shouldn't use murder victims' body parts for organ donation or things of that nature.
    Not the same thing. The victim has that choice, whether his or her organs can be donated for that. In this case, if you believe that the fetus is a living being, they obviously didn't have that choice.

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    Re: Fetal Tissue (from Aborted Fetus) Heals Burns

    Quote Originally Posted by RedBloodedAmerican
    That makes two of us.

    Sorry, I have to go, it's time for dinner. Tonight's menu is aborted fetuses.
    I know that's supposed to be a joke, but to me, that's absolutely insensitive and disgusting, and definitely not funny at all.


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