Cells from aborted fetus used for Trump’s Covid-19 treatment reignite controversy. Vaccine researchers wish it would go away

Though controversial, the use of decades-old aborted embryo’s cells which have been modified to divide without limit hastens scientific advances

Regeneron antibody treatment Trump had for Covid-19 was made using them, and a researcher working on a vaccine says it would ‘be a crime’ to ban their use

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A technician works at a manufacturing facility of Chinese vaccine maker CanSino Biologics in Tianjin, China. The company is working with a fetal cell line called HEK293 to find a vaccine for Covid-19. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:45pm, 23 Oct 2020Updated: 7:46pm, 24 Oct 2020

It is no secret that thousands of laboratories around the world use cells derived from a fetus that was aborted decades ago to develop vital medicines.

But it is a contentious topic in the United States, where conservatives and anti-abortion activists have long deemed the practice unethical.

The matter is once more under the spotlight after President Donald Trump was treated for Covid-19 using Regeneron’s antibody treatment. The company used aborted fetal cells as part of its testing process. “It’s becoming annoying,” Andrea Gambotto, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said of the controversy.

Gambotto has used a cell line called HEK293, the same used by Regeneron, as part of his research for 25 years. “It’d be a crime to ban the use of these cells,” he added. “It never harmed anybody – it was a dead embryo so the cells back then, instead of being discarded, they were used for research.”

HEK293 cells grown for research purposes as seen under a microscope. Photo: Shutterstock

The big advantage of these cells, which were developed in the early 1970s, is that they now represent a “gold standard” in the pharmaceutical industry. If Gambotto – who is leading a Covid-19 vaccine research project himself – one day succeeds, his vaccine can be produced anywhere in the world, thanks to HEK293.