jueves, 31 de enero de 2013

Refrescos , células madre y tejidos fetales.

Frente a lo que se ha dicho en estos dias no hubo una leyenda urbana sobre el uso de material "éticamente sensible" por parte de una compañia que trabajaba a su vez para varias compañias alimentarias. El debate provoco un Boycott en Estados Unidos, que se revolviócon un comunicado de la fabricante de Pepsi en que se comprometía a no realizar ensayos en la línea denunciada.
No parece claro, al menos por la noticia que aporto que es de Prensa y no de ningún grupo activista cual fue exactamente la utilización que realizaba Senomyx inc investigadora en sabores y edulcorantes.
Ya anteriormente Campbell Soup había realizado aclaraciones en torno a su relación con Senomyx en el mismo sentido.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/28/pepsico-denies-accusations-on-link-to-aborted-feta/?page=all

Este e sel Estado de la cuestión que daba un sitio prolife en abril del año pasado.
I have received a few requests from pro-lifers like Vicki:
Can you provide some clarity to the Pepsi/cells from aborted babies controversy.  I cannot sort out whether this is valid or not.
Yes and No
Bottom line: There are no aborted embryonic or fetal cells in any of PepsiCo’s final products.
But: Aborted cells are used in the development of artificial flavor enhancers by biotech company Senomyx, with which PepsiCo signed a four-year, $30 million agreement in 2010 for research and development. No Pepsi products containing Senonymx flavor enhancers should be expected until 2013.
Senomyx’s disputed cell line is HEK-293, derived from the kidney cells of an aborted baby. We could go into the weeds at this point, but Wikipedia offers an easy explanation:
Senomyx develops patented flavor enhancers by using “proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems.” These receptors are made from HEK293. HEK stands for Human Embryonic Kidney cells. These cells, which were cloned, originally came from healthy, electively aborted human embryos. Using information from the human genome sequence, Senomyx has identified hundreds of taste receptors and currently owns 113 patents on their discoveries.
Ick factor
A little more on those taste receptors from cogforlife.org, which originally made the connection between PepsiCo, Senomyx, and aborted cells:
These… taste receptors… produce a chemical signal that lets Senomyx researchers know they have achieved the exact flavor they are trying to develop.
Snopes concurs… sort of
Snopes, in a post last updated on March 18, basically comes to a similar conclusion as the aforementioned, calling the claim that “Pepsi uses material from aborted fetuses in its products” a “mixture” of “false” and “undetermined.”
Snopes states it is “false” to claim Pepsi products contain aborted baby cells, but it is “undetermined” whether Senomyx uses aborted cells in R&D, basically because Senonymx won’t answer the question.
But Snopes goes into great detail, citing articles by CBS News, Forbes, and Miami New Times, to corroborate that Senomyx indeed does. There is actually no question on that point, so Snopes should change “undetermined” to “true.”
Plot thickens with help by Obama administration
LifeSiteNews.com reported on March 5 that shareholders shall remain in the dark, thanks to the SEC:
In a decision delivered Feb 28th, President Obama’s Security and Exchange Commission ruled that PepsiCo’s use of cells derived from aborted fetal remains in their research and development agreement with Senomyx to produce flavor enhancers falls under “ordinary business operations.”
The letter signed by Attorney Brian Pitko of the SEC Office of Chief Counsel was sent in response to a 36-page document submitted by PepsiCo attorneys in January, 2012.
In that filing, PepsiCo pleaded with the SEC to reject the Shareholder’s Resolution filed in October 2011 that the company “adopt a corporate policy that recognizes human rights and employs ethical standards which do not involve using the remains of aborted human beings in both private and collaborative research and development agreements.”
Boycott PepsiCo
Senomyx has since removed the list of all its partners, but cogforlife.org got a screenshot. Those include Kraft and Nestle, future boycott targets according to c4l.
But the boycott starts with Pepsi. From Brad Mattes of Life Issues Institute:
PepsiCo will continue their efforts to keep the controversy quiet, but the pro-life community’s boycott of Pepsi products and exposing the outrage isn’t going to lose its fizz anytime soon.
Here’s what I need you to do.  BOYCOTT Pepsi products.  Click here for the link that will tell you what they are.
Contact PepsiCo directly by clicking here. Tell them why you’re boycotting their products
.
Let others know by leaving a comment on the company’s Facebook page. Post comments on your own Facebook and Twitter pages.
The only way to stop this atrocity is if you and I make enough noise. Together, we must put PepsiCo under the spotlight and expose their willingness to make money off the bodies of aborted babies.

Finalmente Pepsi decidió dejar de usar en investigaciones, siempre a traves de Senomyx, las lineas controvertidas.
He aqui otro resumen.

PepsiCo Says It Will Halt Use of Aborted Fetal Cells in Flavor Research

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PepsiCo Says It Will Halt Use of Aborted Fetal Cells in Flavor Research
A pro-life leader has won a victory in her efforts to convince soft-drink manufacturer PepsiCo to stop the use of aborted fetal cells in its research for enhancing the flavors of its products. Debi Vinnedge, executive director of Children of God for Life (COGFL), announced that in late April she had received a letter from Paul Boykas, PepsiCo’s vice president for Global Public Policy, confirming that the company will not allow the use of HEK-293 — a cell line derived from human embryonic kidney — in its partnership with Senomyx, the company with which it had inked a four-year, $30 million contract for flavor research.
As reported last November by The New American, a PepsiCo shareholder had filed a resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort halt the company from contracting with Senomyx, which, according to documents collected by Vinnedge, used cell lines derived from aborted babies in its process of producing artificial flavor enhancers. According to a report byLifeNews.com at the time, Pepsi had “ignored concerns and criticism from dozens of pro-life groups and tens of thousands of pro-life people who voiced their opposition to PepsiCo contracting with biotech company Senomyx even after it was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from abortions.”
But after a nearly year-long campaign led by COGFL that included a nationwide boycott of PepsiCo products, in late April Boykas sent a letter to Vinnedge assuring her that PepsiCo would not “conduct or fund research — including research performed by third parties — that utilizes any human tissue or cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses.” Boykas also assured Vinnedge that “Senomyx does not use HEK cells or any other tissues or cell lines derived from human embryos or fetuses for research performed on behalf of PepsiCo.”
In response to the letter, Vinnedge said that she was “absolutely thrilled with PepsiCo’s decision. They have listened to their customers and have made both a wise and profound statement of corporate integrity that deserves the utmost respect, admiration, and support of the public.”
Vinnedge said that she had spoken personally with Boykas, who told her that in the process of internal discussions on the issue, company officials had recognized that it was not in PepsiCo’s best interest to continue a policy that could hurt customer relations. “We took the matter very seriously,” Vinnedge quoted Boykas as saying. “We have an official statement on Responsible Research and we intend to live by that policy.”
The policy, Vinnedge explained, “precludes any research by PepsiCo or third parties they fund from using human tissue or cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses.”
News of PepsiCo’s decision reverberated through the pro-life community. “We are grateful to PepsiCo, and especially to all those who sent a loud and clear message to the management of this company,” said Brad Mattes of Life Issues Institute, one of the over 30 groups that joined in the efforts to persuade PepsiCo to change its policy. He added that “there are moral cell lines Senomyx can and should be using — not just for PepsiCo research but for all their customers.” Vinnedge noted that such usable cell lines could easily come from animals, insects, or even non-fetal human cells that express the “G protein” relevant for taste receptors.
Vinnedge said that beyond its contract with PepsiCo, Senomyx, which receives royalties for products sold using its ingredients, needs to rethink its use of aborted fetal cells in flavor research. “If they do not use aborted fetal cell lines, they offend no one,” she said. “If they do, they most certainly offend at least half of U.S. consumers who are pro-life.” She said that “it only makes financial sense for both Senomyx and their collaborators to avoid a substantial loss of potential market. Senomyx needs to stop using the aborted fetal cell lines entirely and we will continue to pressure them to do so.”
The pro-life leader added that individuals and families who had boycotted Pepsi products over the issue should now write the company and thank its CEO for the ethical decision — “and then go buy your favorite Pepsi products to celebrate!” Vinnedge said that “too often we seem to focus on the negatives and forget to take the time to let others know we appreciate their efforts. It is our sincere hope that the public will once again rise to the occasion en masse as they did in the boycott — but this time in appreciation and support of PepsiCo.”
You can write to thank Pepsi on its website, or by mail to:
Albert P. Carey, CEO, PepsiCo Beverages
700 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase
, NY 10577

La cuestión que sólo traigo debido a que otros la han puesto de actualidad se resolvió como se ve con el agradecimiento de los boicoteadores a la compañia de refrescos por su decisión de exigir a Senomyx que no usara para el desenvolvimiento de la investigación en sus productos las lineas controvertidas.
Ahora no hay boycott y desde luego pueden beberse refrescos ( en este caso siempre se han podido beber refrescos ) sin trazas de productos fetales.

1 comentario:

  1. INCREIBLE ARTÍCULO... Debería hablar sobre alguno de los temas de su blog en clase, estoy segura de que a todos nos vendría fenomenal seguir aprendiendo sobre estos temas que están tan a la orden del día y causan tanta controversia....

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