Fetal kidney cells were used to create the first poliovirus vaccines, which are estimated to have saved more than half a million lives each year since they were first widely available, and no doubt prevented debilitating injuries in millions more.
To create the poliovirus vaccine, medical researchers led by Dr. Jonas Salk used infected fetal kidney cells cultivated in the laboratory and then purified them. The purified cells were then developed into an injected vaccination, helping the body’s immune system fight the polio virus.
The results produced one of the most significant medical breakthroughs in world history. Where once polio was a common childhood disease in the United States, the vaccine developed from those fetal cells helped virtually eliminate it by 1979. The World Health Organization reported less than 500 cases of it in 2013, the last year statistics are available.
Fetal Tissue: On the Front Lines of Medical Breakthroughs
Since the early days of Salk’s research and more recently, fetal tissue has been an integral part of stem cell research for diseases like heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, spinal paralysis and more. Researchers are hoping to unlock the mysteries of how and why diseases occur and bring in a new era of medical innovations.