The Scandalous Fetal Tissue Bank

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK, 'funding innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas.'

But what are the brightest ideas when your organisation houses the works of history's most notorious eugenicists? Well, here's one 'bright idea' which The Wellcome Trust thinks is just fine, even if it makes anyone with a heart feel physically sick...Storing, collecting and distributing the bodies of dead unborn children for scientists to research on. I assume these are 'collected' from abortion clinics, 'stored' in cold morgues and then 'distributed' by courier.

Human Developmental Biology Resource (HDBR)

The Human Developmental Biology Resource (HDBR) is a national human tissue resource for medical research. Supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, it is based at the Institute of Child Health, London and the Institute of Human Genetics, Newcastle upon Tyne.

The HDBR collects, stores and distributes embryonic tissue for research. This material is available to developmental biologists to help them increase knowledge of a large number of serious diseases and conditions.

Visit the Human Developmental Biology Resource website.

Right. Well, if you click the HDBR link above you can scroll through and the discover that the HDBR is, in fact, organised from two sites: the Institute of Human Genetics, Newcastle, and the Institute of Child Health, University College of London (UCL), London. So, got that? From the hospital or the abortion clinic, to the Institute of Human Genetics and the Institute of Child Health. The site says, 'any gene expression data that emerges from use of the HDBR material is added to our gene expression database which is accessible via our HUDSEN (Human Developmental Studies Network) website.' So, got that? Unborn baby goes from abortion clinic, to geneticists, all supported and sponsored by Wellcome Trust, who, let's face it, probably use the diabolical 'service' themselves for whatever disgraceful 'Genome Project' they are working on. Basically, its a case of, 'Need a dead baby? Call us.' Suddenly, there seems little point to worrying we're turning into China. My God! We are China already!

Fetal Tissue Bank

The Medical Research Council Fetal Tissue Bank (FTB), based at the Hammersmith Hospital, London, was originally established in the 1950s. The FTB was one of only two human embryonic/fetal tissue banks in the UK, the other being the Human Developmental Biology Resource (HDBR). The FTB originally collected samples between eight and 19 weeks of gestation, but more recently had been collecting closely similar stages to the HDBR (four to 12 weeks). In 2005, the HDBR took over the management of the FTB and is now able to offer tissue for research from the FTB resource.

The FTB is composed of samples from individual organs of fetuses between eight and 19 weeks of gestation. Most of this material was frozen at -80°C at the time of collection. A limited amount has been cryopreserved at -150°C for the generation of cell lines. There is also some tissue preserved in wax blocks, including placenta samples, which have not routinely been collected by the HDBR.

Hence the FTB material is complementary to and so extends the range of research projects the HDBR can support. The HDBR is intending to administer this collection through the normal application process, therefore anyone with full HDBR registration can access this material. If you are interested in obtaining material from the FTB please email HDBR@ich.ucl.ac.uk.

If you would like to access the resource to give them your opinion on this abhorrent and disgusting 'service' to science, please email the Resource Manager at either the Newcastle site - hdbr@ncl.ac.uk - or the London site - hdbr@ich.ucl.ac.uk.