The kidney cells were forced to take up bits of DNA using a technique invented in 1973 that used a calcium solution. Bits of chopped up DNA from the adenovirus, a virus that causes a pretty severe cold. The cells, called HEK 293 cells (that stands for human embryonic kidney) were taken from an aborted fetus in the 1970s in the Netherlands. And there is no way you'll consume them or that the cells would cause any health problems. The fetus-derived cell line we're talking about was also created around the time I was born. (See a list of products Children of God For Life say are unethical.) Moreover, many medicines and vaccines, which I suppose could be seen as 'meant for human consumption.' The Children of God For Life, which according to press reports inspired Shortey's bill, also opposes standard vaccines for chickenpox, rubella and hepatitis A and drugs such as Roche's Pulmozyme for cystic fibrosis and Amgen's Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis. But some food companies are using cell lines that were originally derived from human fetuses in order to develop new food products. No person or entity is manufacturing food or other products intended for human consumption that contain aborted human fetuses. So let's take a look at what Shortey is actually talking about. I think this bill is anti-medicine, anti-biotech, and anti-business, but I also think that Shortey has a point, and that his effort highlights a deep divide in the way people understand and feel about science that no amount of mocking on Twitter or Andy-Kaufman-esque stunt articles on Gawker will change.

No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients.

Coca cola hek 293