Attitudes towards human fetal tissue research: Survey of researchers and the public in Japan

Introduction: The rules for human fetal tissue (HFT) research in Japan are unclear.

Methods: In this paper, we conducted a web survey to examine the attitudes of Japanese researchers (n=535) and the public (n=3,000) toward HFT research.

Results: The results demonstrated that 5.8% of researchers and 18.8% of the public explicitly opposed HFT research, and 71.8% of the researchers thought that the rules for HFT research need to be clarified. Even among researchers who intended to consider conducting HFT research, 74.2% responded that the rules should be clarified. Although different from attitudes to make decisions regarding HFT donation, being non-religious and in their reproductive age among women in the public group were factors for accepting attitudes toward HFT research.

Conclusion: To establish the rules, it is necessary to develop a system that can adequately protect vulnerable women who are asked to provide HFT.