Fetal Tissue Implant

A fetal tissue implant, also called fetal cell therapy, is an experimental medical therapy in which tissue from a fetus is implanted into a patient to treat disease. In Parkinson disease, researchers have hoped the implanted fetal tissue would produce dopamine, the chemical that is deficient in the affected brain, and the approach has also been investigated for Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease. Fetal tissue is used because it grows quickly and is less likely to be rejected by the recipient immune system than tissue from an adult donor.