Fr. Nicanor Austriaco and others have speculated that HEK-293 may have been established from cells taken from a miscarriage. That sounded like hogwash when I heard it, and I started doing a little reading. A little reading turned into a bit more, and then a bit more. Recently, Dr. Jay Richards from Catholic University of America reached out to Stacy looking for some authoritative reference on this question to support a current project. I let Stacy know that I would be happy to respond. This is what I wrote:

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Stacy forwarded this question to me as I have spent some time on this after Fr. Nicanor Austriaco openly speculated that the HEK-293 cell line may have been developed using tissue from a miscarriage.

I’ll lead with the conclusion. His statement is nonsense. There is nothing in the scientific literature dealing directly with this claim, simply because it would never occur to a biologist to even try to establish a living cell line from dead tissue. This cannot be done. The impossibility becomes clear when one examines two things:

1. The biological process of miscarriage and stillbirth, and,
2. Post-mortem changes at the cellular level

With regard to the first question, pregnancy-related tissues are typically expelled between four and twenty days following fetal demise. Most spontaneous abortions in early pregnancy (first trimester) are caused by a variety of chromosomal abnormalities – an embryo does not form in these cases – and what tissue is expelled would be of no use to one attempting to establish a cell line. The other causes of miscarriage and stillbirth result in the demise of the embryo or fetus and this demise precedes the expulsion of tissue by several days to a few weeks.[1] The time involved is the critical observation.

The second question, understanding physiochemical post-mortem changes at the cellular level, makes it quite clear that a living cell line cannot be established using the tissues expelled from a miscarriage or stillbirth. When the body dies (irreversible cessation of vital functions of the brain, heart and lungs), autolysis begins within minutes.[2] This is a process of decomposition, where the cell membranes break down and release enzymes that begin a process of self-digestion. Since circulation of oxygenated blood has ceased, the levels of carbon dioxide in the cell begin to rise and the pH within the cell becomes increasingly acidic. This increasing level of acidity is what causes membranes within the cell to rupture, among them the membrane of the lysosome, which contains a variety of enzymes for the digestion of nucleic acids, fats, proteins, etc.[3]

The rate of autolytic spread varies throughout the organism and two of the most significant variables are the concentration of enzymes in the type of tissue and temperature. Some organ tissues have comparatively high concentrations of enzymes. The liver, kidneys and pancreas are examples, given their functions within the body. Smooth muscle tissue and lung tissue have comparatively low levels of these enzymes.[3] This is significant, in that organ tissue is sought as the source of cells for a cell line.

Temperature has the greatest impact on autolytic spread and progression. The higher the temperature, the faster the autolytic reaction. Very low temperatures can slow the autolytic process dramatically, which explains how people have been revived after apparently drowning in very cold water, suffering no permanent ill effects.[3]

In the case of a miscarriage or stillbirth, the temperature of the expired fetus remains at core body temperature, approximately 37°C, until it is expelled. This will accelerate the autolytic process and spread.

One must remember that the time between the fetal demise of a miscarriage and expulsion of the pregnancy tissues is measured in days. By the time the tissue is expelled, there is no metabolic function anywhere in the fetal body. In fact, the expired fetus goes through a process of maceration (autolytic fermentation) prior to expulsion. This has the appearance of putrefaction in that the skin separates and the tissue underneath is darkly discolored; putrefaction is bacterial decomposition and the amniotic sac is a sterile environment.[3]

This information rejects the notion that tissue from a miscarriage can be used to establish a living cell line. It also suggests that fetal tissue that is used for research purposes must be harvested and very quickly cooled within minutes of the abortion procedure. That abortions and tissue harvesting are carefully coordinated is strongly implied in the scientific literature. I’m including a reference to the development of the WalVax-2 cell line, completed in 2015.[4] One gets the clear sense that the abortion procedures and the harvesting of the desired tissue were very carefully orchestrated to preserve the integrity of the tissue as much as possible.

In conclusion, establishing a living cell line from dead tissue is not possible (when put that way, it seems a bit silly to take the question seriously!). In the case of miscarriage, metabolic function has completely ceased and decomposition is advanced by the time the tissue is expelled.

Resurrection requires Divine agency.

Citations:
[1] Obstetrics and Gynecology (utp.edu.co)
[2] After a person’s pulse and breathing stop, how much later does all cellular metabolism stop? – Scientific American
[3] Postmortem Changes – StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
[4] Characteristics and viral propagation properties of a new human diploid cell line, walvax-2, and its suitability as a candidate cell substrate for vaccine production (nih.gov)

General reference:
Spontaneous Abortion – Gynecology and Obstetrics – Merck Manuals Professional Edition

Yours very sincerely, and in Christ,
Jose L. Trasancos, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Children of God for Life, Inc.
Info@COGforLife.org

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I could have stopped after fifteen minutes or so of reading a biology text book, having learned enough to refute the statement. I kept going to the point where I’m quite familiar with the chemistry. It is patent nonsense to suggest that living cell lines could be established using tissues from a miscarriage or a stillbirth. Now, Fr. Nicanor Austriaco is a molecular biologist (Ph.D., Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and others that have echoed Austriaco’s statement are similarly credentialed. THEY KNOW BETTER. Why did they say what they said? Do they hold the rest of us in such contempt that they think us incapable of some light research on our own? Never mind the gross insult hurled at women that have experienced a miscarriage or a stillbirth. What’s their angle? Whatever it is, it does not seem to be remotely connected with the truth.

I invite, no, I dare one of them, any of them, to respond with facts and data. They are the ones challenging pretty basic biology. They are the ones that need to come up with something of substance. Until then, I will thank them to spare us their opinions. Or whatever they are.