Do stem cells come from aborted foetuses?
A. No. However, another type of cell, called germ cells, comes from early foetal tissue recovered during a narrow window of development. Germ cells are not classified as stem cells. In development, an embryo is called a foetus at about 7-8 weeks following fertilisation. At about 4-5 weeks of development, embryonic germ cells, the precursors to the egg and sperm cells, are found in the developing ovary or testis, structures only about 2 mm long. The Australian Stem Cell Centre does not use embryonic germ cells in any of our research but a very small number of other Australian stem cell laboratories do utilise these cells in their research. However, some evidence has suggested that embryonic germ cells may be more limited in their ability to become many different cell types because they are isolated from tissue that is further along in development (several weeks as opposed to only 4-5 days).
