This advertisement is from the June 18, 1999 issue of Science magazine. At that time fetal tissue was the Next Big Thing. Though it did not suffer the heights of hyperbole at play in the current ESCR debate, many people saw fetal tissue treatments as a field with great potential for progress. It also suggested a way to stick it to anti-utilitarian pro-lifers by turning abortion into a promising economic and life-enhancing endeavor.
Early trials on patients with brain problems seemed promising. Then gruesome teratomas began forming inside the patients' heads. I haven't heard anything about non-stem cell fetal tissue research since. ESCR now has influential friends. We'll see if precedent repeats itself.
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