Pfizer use of aborted fetal tissue:

Posted on: November 9, 2021 at 23:48:49 CT

https://cogforlife.org/guidance/

(additional links on original page)

Fetal cell line: The HEK293 cell line (info here) originated from a healthy aborted child in the 1970s, age unknown.

Did Pfizer/BioNTech use the HEK293 fetal cell line in research? Yes, they did in the research and development of the vaccine, similar to the way Moderna (above) did. They used the HEK293 cell line for testing the vaccine.

* In September 2020, researchers explained that they used HEK293 in a neutralization assay to detect the presence of antibodies, a test to make sure the vaccine works as it should, and they transfected HEK293 cells to test expression. That means they added the vaccine in each step of development to the cells to see if they produced the protein as expected. This is the in vitro (in the lab) mRNA expression test.

* This U.S. patent describes how they made RNA molecules encoding fusion proteins (like the spike protein) and tested them in development. They used a variety of cell lines, HEK293 among them, but do not specifify which cell line they used for the COVID-19 vaccine. Again, they needed to see if the vaccine was stable and worked as expected.

Does Pfizer/BioNTech use HEK293 fetal cell line in ongoing quality control testing during manufacturing? We do not know.

Also see:

COVID-19 Vaccine and HEK293: Testing and Production are Ethically Equal

Edited by JeffB at 23:52:58 on 11/09/21