Glycobiology, Human Cell Lines, and Vaccinations

Larry A. Law

Medicines whose active ingredients are derived from proteins (such as growth hormone, insulin, antibodies) and other substances produced by living organisms (like cells, viruses and bacteria) are called biotherapeutics (BTs). Since 1980, these BTs have become the mainstay for treating infectious and autoimmune diseases, cancer, hematologic (blood), hormonal, and genetic disorders. The vast majority of currently licensed BT products are produced in animal (mammalian) cells. Normal animal or human cells cannot replicate and divide indefinitely so they are of limited use. However, cancer makes these cells capable of replicating and dividing indefinitely. They are immortal. This is why these cancerous cell lines are used by scientists to develop BTs.

Most BTs have been produced using the cancerous Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, baby hamster kidney (BHK21) cells, and murine (mice) myeloma cell lines (NS0 and Sp2/0) as shown in Table 1 in this article published in Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. Recently, however, there has been a significant shift from animal cell lines to human cells lines. Human cell lines are taken from aborted fetal tissue made cancerous so they will divide forever. The benefit of human cells over animal cells has to do with glcosylation or how biological sugars are added to the proteins. As the science of glycobiology has developed, scientists realized that manufacturing biopharmaceuticals using cell lines able to produce large, complex proteins with the needed sugars attached worked better using human cell lines rather than animal. This is because the human cell lines added the sugars to the protein in ways that exactly matched what occured in normal human bodies. Cell lines from mammals/animals were approximately the same but there are key differences. Those differences could spell disaster in humans when the medicine containing the glycoproteins were given to patients.  

In the scientific literature, the researchers speak of animal (mammal) cell lines producing post-translational modifications (PTMs). These PTMs are glycosylated or created inside cells. These are the glycoproteins we discuss in our Wellness Journey class. Two examples of these animal PTMs not expressed in humans are galactose-alpha1,3-galactose and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NGNA). Humans possess antibodies in their immune system against both of those animal created sugar (N-glycan) structures. If medicines were developed and not screened properly during production to eliminate these things, a serious inflammatory response could be generated. The structure, number and location of PTM sugars (glycoproteins) can drastically affect the biologic activity, protein stability, clearance rate, and immunological properties of the BTs. So, glycobiology answers why generating glycoproteins in human cells is better than generating them in animal cells. But it does not address the physical and moral concerns. Since these structures are nurtured in human cell lines, the BTs cannot avoid the consequence of injecting foreign DNA into our bodies as a result of being grown in aborted fetal tissue. 

The first human cell line, HeLa, was established in 1951 after the death of a black woman (Henrietta Lacks) with cervical cancer. A human cell line (from her cancerous/immortal cells) was created for use in vaccination development in the 1960s. Initially, there was serious concern about cancerous byproducts and foreign DNA seeping into and contaminating vaccines or BTs developed with it. These concerns delayed the acceptance of using this cell line for years. But eventually researchers chose to ignore these concerns in view of the perceived greater good vaccinations could bring. The magnitude of these scientific concerns is something the CDC continues to downplay. They are not interested in exploring questions they don't want the public to know the answer to. Whatever the risks are, millions of vaccine recipients have already been infected with foreign DNA.

Recombinant (genetically engineered) BTs are currently produced using human embryonic kidney cells called HEK293 and fibrosarcoma HT-1080 cell lines. In addition, PER.C6 (human embryonic retinal cells), HKB-11 (created through polyethylene glycol fusion with Burkitt lymphoma cells), CAP (derived from human amniocentesis and immortalized through an adenovirus type 5 E1 gene), HuH-7 (human hepatocellular carcinoma), WI-38 (3-month old, human embryonic fibroblasts) are other aborted fetal tissue cell lines widely used in BT and vaccination development. See last week's blog article for list of specific vaccinations using aborted fetal tissue. 

The question never addressed is why the medical community is so silent about the use of aborted fetal tissue and human cell lines in BT and vaccination development. The ingredient list on vaccines is never forthright. Only a biochemist would know that an ingredient list depicting "HEK293" actually refers to aborted fetal tissue. Because it is an igredient of the vaccine, there is DNA contamination resulting from aborted fetal tissue cells that could cause an autoimmune, degenerative (cancer) or neurotoxic disease. It seems we worry more about telling a vegan that there is meat on the menu than telling someone who is against abortion that there is aborted fetal tissue being injected into their bloodstream. There are moral and physical ramifications for using aborted fetal cell lines in vaccines. The exponential rise in sickness like cancer and autoimmune diseases is coming from somewhere. Scientists know it is not genetic but rather comes from environmental factors. One of those factors is likely to be the ingredients in the BTs and vaccines people trust. The public has a right to know and decide the truth for themselves. To get a better understanding of glycobiology and its myriad implications for human health, see my book here.