Above is a 1980 photograph of a pristine fibroblast cell strain called Medical Research Council cell strain 5, MRC-5 which was developed in the United Kingdom in 1966. Below is a thin section transmission electron micrograph of MRC-5 cells which show SARS-CoV-1 inside the infected cells. From phil.cdc.com and in the public domain.

The Fetal Cell Strain Controversy in Vaccine Development

by | May 12, 2021

Introduction

The most controversial issue, at least in my own heart, is the use of cell strains for research and vaccine production. Most people know little about why cell strains are important for that, or how cell strains came about. Vaccine objectors quip that they contain aborted fetal tissue, and decry their use in order to promote their agenda. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What they don’t know or intentionally refuse to see, is how complicity we all are in today’s abortion industry.

A Brief History Cell Strains and Vaccine Development

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas ban on abortion in Roe v. Wade. Like me, you may have thought that is when the abortion industry started. In the 1930s, abortion was very much illegal for almost all reasons everywhere in the US. Still, there were perhaps 800,000 or more back-room procedures performed that year. Some were done for medical reasons without prosecution.1 2 3 4

In thirty-six years of primary care pediatrics with some level III neonatology, I never knew or heard of any colleagues doing abortions. Personally and professionally, I abhorred it. Physicians had no formal education or training in the procedure when I was in medical school in the early 1980s. I was never taught about the history of cell strains then either. The few vaccines that were available when I started private practice in 1986 included DTP (whole cell pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus), oral polio, and the MMR (measle, mumps, and rubella).

The polio and MMR vaccines all came about as a result of human cell strain development. Unlike bacteria, viruses are simply dead nucleotide sequences without the host’s biochemical machinery to reproduce. They exist to replicate, but outside the host cell they are nothing. Prions are similar though they are proteins and not nucleotides. In order to produce a viral vaccine, you must have virus and host cells in which they can multiply.

Sabin and Olitsky struggled to grow polio in any cells besides those from neural tissue.5 Vaccines made from neural tissue sometimes included small amounts of myelin basic protein. In some people, this protein triggered encephalomyelitis, and some died. Neural tissues therefore could not be used to culture and grow polio.

But the virus refused to grow in anything other than neural cells. Sabin finally gave up after working to cultivate the virus for many years. In 1948, Enders, Weller, and Robbins discovered that the polio strain Sabin was using was the problem. Using the Lansing strain, Weller and his colleagues were able to culture polio virus.6

But succesful viral culture was problematic. Non-human cells from monkeys used to make the first polio vaccine was discovered to contain SV40 (Simian Virus 40). This virus wasn’t even know until after vast number of children had been injected with the polio vaccine containing it. Fortunately, the SV40 was shown after decades of post-vaccination follow-up to be harmless in humans. Concern was well founded, since it was know that some cancers in animals were caused by viruses. The Cutter incident was not so forgiving. Improper filtering at Cutter Laboratories in Berkely, California, a license polio vaccine manufacturer, resulted in the presence of live polio virus in some of its lots. Many vaccinated children came down with polio, and almost two hundred died. Between the reactions to myelin basic protein, the non-human, and human virus contaminants plaguing vaccines, use of non-human cells for vaccine production was halted by the FDA. The concensus was that a vaccine could only be safe if it grew in a human cell strain.

In 1961, human cell strains became available for viral culture. Working at the Wistar Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia,  Leonard Hayflick received the lungs of a fetus aborted in Sweden from Dr. Sven Gard the top virologist at the Karolinska Institute in Solna (Stockholm), Sweden. The child’s mother, who already had six children with their derelict alcoholic father, elected to terminate the baby. This mother, as far as I know, was not solicited with the intent of harvesting fetal cells from her unborn baby. Most Swedish physicians at that time frowned on abortion, even though it was legal there.7

Hayflick teased the fetal lung tissue down to pinhead-sized specks, then treated them with digestive enzymes from pigs to loosen the cells from one another. In his nutrient-rich flasks, the cells began to replicate, and Hayflick named them the WI-38 cell strain. Ultimately, about 800 nutrient-rich flasks each with nearly 2 million cells each were created. By Hayflick’s calculations, that was enough cells to produce 22 million tons of cells, more than enough he thought to last almost indefinitely.8 Contrary to previous thought, Hayflick knew that these cells had a limited number of replications, perhaps about 40 to 50. Cell strains are not immortal like cell lines. Cell lines come from cancerous cells, the most famous probably being the HeLa line which was named after Henrietta Lacks who died from the cancer.

Cancer cell lines could cause cancer if used for viral cultivation, production, and vaccination. At that time, the only source of pristine cells for viral culture which was free from abnormal DNA and other viral infections was the WI-38 strain. In 1966, the MRC-5 cell strain was subsequently produced by the Medical Research Council in London as a British competitor to the Hayflick’s WI-38 strain. All cell strains are normal cells, which is a requirement for vaccine production, but they have a limited number of replications unless they have their DNA altered. In other words, they stop replicating just like they do in our body. The WI-38 strain is coming to an end since it doesn’t have many more replications left. WI-38 will eventually die out, as will MRC-5.

The MRC-5 and the WI-38 cell strains are responsible for an inestimable number of vaccine doses, and have prevented hundreds of millions of cases of various diseases. Each cell strain came from one fetus. It is absolutely false to believe that today’s vaccines contain fetal tissues from yesterday’s aborted babies.

Are Vaccines Complicit in the Abortion Industry?

Personal conscience about using vaccines created or developed with cell strains remains a large and insurmountable moral issue for some. The whole abortion issue is painful even for me. Some see vaccines as a conspiracy, or even tout them as evil. My personal abhorrence to abortion runs deep, and to understand why, you can read mine and Stacy’s story online here.9

As far as I know, no one tried to induce the mother’s of the two babies to abort in order to make these cell strains. It appears in fact, that the mother of the baby whose lung tissue gave rise to Hayflick’s WI-38 cell strain was never told about it, and probably assumed the remains of her child were incinerated.10 As I’ve pointed out, even though abortion wasn’t legal in the US, it was in Sweden at the time, and abortion was much more common than we may think. Out of sight is out of mind though, and we are all much closer to supporting abortion even if we or our children never received any vaccines.

Since vaccines contain no aborted fetal tissues, pointing the moral finger at them is hypocritical. Everyday we all indirectly support abortion. An online search for companies that contribute to the abortion industry resulted in a startling list of direct and indirect corporate donors to Planned Parenthood. 11 Do those who oppose vaccination recognize that by trading with these companies, they are indirectly complicit? Are we all complicit when we do business with these corporations? Vaccines absolutely do not contribute to today’s abortion industry, but doing business with corporate abortion donors makes all of us complicit.

So then, what is the solution? Do we create a non-abortion currency, so we can clearly see which dollar bill has not been used to pay for abortions? Vaccine opponents excuse themselves, all the while protesting the use of fetal cell strains in viral manufacture. Who really bears the guilt here? Certainly it is not cell strains used for vaccine culture intended to preserve life.

Table 1. The following companies have contributed money directly to Planned Parenthood. You will take notice some pharmaceutical companies, one of the which manufacturers the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine.12

DIrect Donors to Planned Parenthood
Adobe
Aetna
Allstate
American Express
Amgen
AutoZone
Avon
Bank of America
Bath & Body Works
Ben & Jerry’s
Boeing
BP
Charles Schwab
Clorox
Craigslist
Converse
Deutsche Bank
Diageo
Dockers
Energizer
Expedia
ExxonMobil
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Frito Lay
General Electric
Groupon
Intuit
Jiffy Lube
JPMorgan Chase
Johnson & Johnson
Kaiser Permanente
Kraft Heinz
Levi Strauss
Liberty Mutual
March of Dimes
Microsoft
Mondelez International
Monsanto
Morgan Stanley
Nike
Oracle
Patagonia
PayPal
PepsiCo
Pfizer
Progressive Insurance
Prudential
Qualcomm
Starbucks
Shell
Susan G. Komen
Unilever
United Airlines
United Way
US Bank
Verizon
Wells Fargo
Indirect Donors to Planned Parenthood
3M
7 For All Mankind
Abbott Laboratories
Accenture
Adobe
ADP
Advanced Micro Device
Aetna
Alamo
Albertsons
Alcoa
Allstate
Amazon
American Airlines
American Express
American Greetings
American Petroleum Institute
Ameriprise Financial
AmerisourceBergen
Amgen
Anheuser-Busch
Ann Taylor
AOL
Apostrophe
AT&T
Avon
AXA
Banana Republic
Bank of America
Belk
Ben & Jerry’s
Best Buy
Black & Decker
BP
Bridgestone
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Calvin Klein
Campbell’s Soup
Cargill
Carmax
Central Pacific Financial
CenturyLink
Cigna
Cisco
Citibank
Choice Hotels
Clorox
COACH
Comcast
Comerica Bank
Commerce Bank
Conagra
ConocoPhillips
Costco
Converse
Corning Inc.
CoverGirl
CVS
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Del Monte Foods
Dell
Delta Express
Deutsche Bank
Diageo
DiGiorno
DIRECTV
Dockers
Dollar General
Dollar Shave Club
Dow Chemical
DowDuPont
eBay
Energizer
Enterprise Holdings
Ernst & Young
eToys.com
Expedia
Express Scripts Inc.
FedEx
Fifth Third Bank
Ford
Freddie Mac
Friendly’s
Frito-Lay
Fry’s Food Stores
Gap
GEICO
General Electric
General Mills
General Motors
Google
Groupon
H&R Block
Hallmark Cards
Harris Teeter
Hasbro
HBO
HCA Holdings
Health Net
Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
Hershey Company
Hewlett-Packard
Hillshire Brands Company
Home Depot
Honda
Hunt’s
Hurleys
IBM
Intel
Intuit
Jack in the Box
JanSport
Jell-O
Jenn-Air
Jet.com
Jiffy Lube
John-Deere
John Hancock Financial
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase
Junior Achievement
Kellogg’s
Kenmore
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Kimberly-Cark
Kipling
KitchenAid
Kmart
Kohl’s
KPMG
Kraft-Heinz
Kroger
L.L. Bean
Lands’ End
Lee
Levi Strauss
Liberty Mutual
Lincoln Financial Group
LOFT
MAPCO
Mars Inc.
Marshalls
Mary Kay
MassMutual
MasterCard
Maytag
Mcdonalds
Merck & Co.
MGM Resorts International
Microsoft
Mondelez International
Monsanto
Morgan Stanley
Motorola
National Car Rental
National Basketball Association
National Football League
Nautica
NBC Universal
NCAA
Nestle
New Balance
New York Life
Newell Brands
Old Navy
Oracle
Pacific Life
PayPal
PepsiCo
PetSmart
Pfizer
PINK
Pizza Hut
PNC Bank
Prudential Financial and Insurance
Procter & Gamble
Progressive Insurance
Publix
Qdoba Mexican Grill
Quaker Oats
Qualcomm
Quality Inn
QuickBooks
Ralph Lauren
Ralphs
REI
Rite Aid
Safeway
Sam’s Club
Schnucks
Sears
Seattle’s Best Coffee
Shell Oil
Shelter Insurance
The Sherwin Williams Company
Sprint
Starbucks
State Farm
Subaru
Subway
SunTrust
Susan G. Komen
T-Mobile
T.J. Maxx
Taco Bell
Tazo Tea
Teavana
Texas Instruments
The North Face
The Travelers Companies
Tiffany & Co
Timberland
Time Warner
Toro
Toys R Us
Tractor Supply Company
Turbo Tax
Unilever
UnitedHealth Group
US Bank
USAA
Vanity Fair
Vans
Verizon
Victoria’s Secret
Walmart
Walgreens
Wawa
Wells Fargo
Western Union
Whataburger
Whirlpool Corporation
White Castle
Wrangler
Yelp
Youtube
Xerox
Zales

Bibliography

1.
Enders JF, Weller TH, Robbins FC. Cultivation of the Lansing Strain of Poliomyelitis Virus in Cultures of Various Human Embryonic Tissues. Science. 1949;109(2822):85-87. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1676381
1.
Gold RB. Lessons from Before Roe: Will Past be Prologue? The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. 2003;(6):8-11. doi:10.1363/2020.31675
1.
Nossiff R. Before Roe: Abortion Policy in the States. Temple University Press; 2001.
1.
Sabin AB, Olitsky PK. Cultivation of Poliomyelitis Virus in vitro in Human Embryonic Nervous Tissue. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1936;34(3):357-359. http://doi.org/10.3181/00379727-34-8619C
1.
Wadman M. The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. Viking; 2017.

ENDNOTES

  1. Gold RB. Lessons from Before Roe: Will Past be Prologue? The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. 2003;(6):8-11. doi:10.1363/2020.31675
  2. Nossiff R. Before Roe: Abortion Policy in the States. Temple University Press; 2001.
  3. Gold RB. Lessons from Before Roe: Will Past be Prologue? The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. 2003;(6):8-11. doi:10.1363/2020.31675
  4. Wadman M. The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. Viking; 2017, p 24.
  5. Sabin AB, Olitsky PK. Cultivation of Poliomyelitis Virus in vitro in Human Embryonic Nervous Tissue. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 1936;34(3):357-359. http://doi.org/10.3181/00379727-34-8619C
  6. Enders JF, Weller TH, Robbins FC. Cultivation of the Lansing Strain of Poliomyelitis Virus in Cultures of Various Human Embryonic Tissues. Science. 1949;109(2822):85-87. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1676381
  7. Wadman M. The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. Viking; 2017, p. 3.
  8. Wadman M. The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. Viking; 2017, p. 5.
  9. https://www.psalm8510.com/2015/08/08/our-testimony/
  10. Wadman M. The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. Viking; 2017, p. 93-94.
  11. https://familycouncil.org/?page_id=14547
  12. https://familycouncil.org/?page_id=14547
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