Fetal Cell Tests Get Private Funds

Despite a continuing ban on federal funding for research withmost fetal tissue, some studies are going ahead with private funding.

Last year's creation of a private board to monitor the ethics ofsuch research may stimulate studies, which now include diabetes andParkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases.

Another example is a proposed study at the University ofLouisville, where researchers plan to use fetal tissue in experimentsto find a treatment for spinal cord injuries.

The researchers would transplant sections of spinal cords fromhuman fetuses into rats with injured spines in hopes of restoringmovement and sensation in the rats.

Fetal …