Fetal tissue implant

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Fetal tissue implant or fetal cell therapy is implanting tissue from a fetus to a patient for treatment of disease. In the case of Parkinson's disease, it is hoped that the fetal tissue would produce chemicals, specifically dopamine, lacking in the diseased brain. Treatment was also studied for Alzheimer's and Huntington's. Fetal tissue is unique in its fast growing and low immune system rejection possibility.

Because the source of the tissue is aborted fetuses, there are significant legal and ethical issues being discussed. Federal funding for embryonic tissue was restricted in the United States under Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr. before being lifted under the Clinton administration.

[edit] See also

• Stem cell