April 28, 2016 5:39 PM

Texas Tech, UT representatives update lawmakers on fetal tissue research

Researchers say they “understand the sensitivity, and are absolutely committed to complying with all laws, rules and regulations."

Two Texas university systems are investing – albeit very minimally – in controversial research that involves fetal tissue, and both are doing so without legal concerns, officials told a panel of lawmakers in Austin Thursday.

"While this research is a small part of our collective scientific enterprise, it is work that would be difficult or impossible to do otherwise," Ray Greenberg, the University of Texas System's executive vice chancellor for health affairs, told the House Committee on State Affairs. "We also understand the sensitivity, and are absolutely committed to complying with all laws, rules and regulations."

Last year, the entire UT system spent about $34,000 on costs associated with obtaining fetal tissue, predominately obtained from a California-based nonprofit. While the sale of fetal tissue is illegal, consenting patients may donate it to medical research.

Federal law allows those involved with the donations to make and receive "reasonable payments associated with the transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue."

By Eva Ruth Moravec