Are any COVID-19 vaccines available using a cell line derived from aborted child?
Updated: Nov 9, 2021
For now, all vaccines for the COVID-19 virus being distributed are produced and/or tested with cell lines that originated from an aborted child. This is most unfortunate
Moderna
The Moderna vaccine is a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is found naturally in cells. It transfers the instructions from the DNA code, the sequence of nucleic acids, to make the proteins. The mRNA vaccine instructs a patient’s cells to produce proteins, in this case the spike protein found on the outer surface of the COVID-19 virus. This is the part of the virus that interacts with our immune cells. By stimulating the production of the spike protein, an antigen (antibody generator), the body builds up antibodies to it. Then if the body is infected with the whole COVID-19 virus, it is prepared to fight it. Moderna codes the vaccine as mRNA-1273. How does an mRNA vaccine work? See Moderna’s website. Fetal cell line: The HEK293 cell line (info here) originated from a healthy aborted child in the 1970s, age unknown. Did Moderna use the HEK293 fetal cell line in research? Yes, they did in the research and development of the vaccine.
In March 2020, researchers explained in Science journal that they expressed the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation using HEK293 cells. That means they made the spike protein so they could study it, and they used HEK293 cells as the medium to express it in.
In this preliminary report from July 2020, researchers explain in the supplementary appendix that ACE-2-overexpressing 293T cells were used in a neutralization assay to detect the presence of antibodies, a test to make sure the vaccine works as it should.
This August 2020 preclinical trial report in Nature journal also explains that researchers 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 for the in vivo (in the body) production of proteins explains a similar test, including testing the mRNA encapsulated in the lipid for delivery into the body. Again, they needed to see if the vaccine was stable and worked as expected.
Does Moderna use HEK293 fetal cell line in ongoing quality control testing during manufacturing? We do not know. Also see:
Measuring Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine: Now’s the Time to Press Hard for Ethical Options (National Catholic Register)
Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine – Facts – Not Fiction
Pfizer
The Pfizer vaccine, developed in conjuction with BioNTech, is a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is found naturally in cells. It transfers the instructions from the DNA code, the sequence of nucleic acids, to make the proteins. The mRNA vaccine instructs a patient’s cells to produce proteins, in this case the spike protein found on the outer surface of the COVID-19 virus. This is the part of the virus that interacts with our immune cells. By stimulating the production of the spike protein, an antigen (antibody generator), the body builds up antibodies to it. Then if the body is infected with the whole COVID-19 virus, it is prepared to fight it. Pfizer/BioNTech codes the vaccine as BNT162b2. How does an mRNA vaccine work? See Pfizer’s website for more information. 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
AstraZeneca
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in conjuction with Oxford University, is an adenovirus-vector-based vaccine, which encodes the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Adenoviral vectors are genetically engineered forms of the virus. AstraZeneca codes the vaccine as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. Fetal cell line: The HEK293 cell line (info here) originated from a healthy aborted child in the 1970s, age unknown. Did AstraZeneca use the HEK293 fetal cell line in research? Yes, they did in the research and development of the vaccine, as explained in this scientific report from July 2020 in Nature journal. To propogate the virus in the HEK293 cells means to grow it in them. They will need to do this in ongoing manufacturing. Does AstraZeneca use the HEK293 fetal cell line in manufacturing? Yes, see above, the viral vaccine is propogated (grown) in the cell line.
Johnson & Johnson
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, developed in conjunction with Janssen Research & Development, Inc., is an adenovirus-vector-based vaccine. Adenoviral vectors are genetically engineered forms of the virus. Johnson & Johnson explains the science behind their vaccine here. Johnson & Johnson codes the vaccine as Ad26.COV2.S. Fetal cell line: AdVac® technology uses PER.C6® cell line (info here) originating from a healthy 18-week-old aborted child. Did Johnson & Johnson use the PER.C6 fetal cell line in research and production? Yes, they did in the research and development of the vaccine, as explained in this scientific report from July 2020 in Nature journal and in this scientific report from September 2020 also in Nature journal. To propogate the virus in the PER.C6 cells means to grow it in them. They will need to do this in ongoing manufacturing.
Source: https://cogforlife.org/guidance/
Additional proofs of aborted cell lines in this vaccines:
https://lozierinstitute.org/update-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-and-abortion-derived-cell-lines/