Freeze on fetal tissue procurement may impede work at NIH cancer lab

The NIH freeze on fetal tissue procurement is threatening to hamper work at an agency lab that's conducting cancer immunotherapy research, the latest sign a Trump administration decision could slow the efforts of scientists who depend on the samples. “If they don’t procure new fetal tissue by, say, end of January, [there] will be an impact,” an NIH spokesperson tells STAT. The NIH says it's taking steps to make sure the research didn't have to be paused. Two other NIH labs are also carrying out research that could also be affected by the suspension. STAT's Ike Swetlitz has more here.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers are holding a hearing today to explore alternatives to the use of fetal tissue in scientific research. One of the witnesses at today's hearing is Tara Sander Lee, a researcher at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. The institute is the research arm of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List. Another witness is David Prentice, research director of the Lozier Institute and an advisory board member of the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center.