![]() Kraft's (KFT) Cadbury unit, Nestle (NESN), the soybean company Solae and the flavor company Firmenich also have partnerships, and Vinnedge and her supports have sent letters to those companies as well. ![]() Pepsi is hardly the only company working with Senomyx. ![]() She argues that Senomyx could use other, non-fetus-based cell lines, such as those from animals. Vinnedge, who has been campaigning against the use of embryonic cells for years, unearthed the information about Senomyx and HEK by combing through the company's patents.Įven though HEK 293 cells trace their origin to a single fetal kidney back in the 1970s - everything since has come from cultured cell lines - Vinnedge considers their use unethical because it indirectly creates a market for aborted fetuses and encourages scientists to hunt for new embryonic cell lines. She points to the fact that one of Senomyx's patents (not one for a product Pepsi would be using) refers to the way company scientists used mifepristone to get unstable HEK cells to respond - mifepristone being more commonly known as RU-486, the abortion pill. It strikes a really strong reaction in people," she said in an interview. (For the bio-geeks among you, these cells offer a reliable way to produce new proteins via genetic engineering.)įor Debi Vinnedge, who runs the anti-abortion group Children of God for Life, that doesn't matter. All but 7 of the company's 77 patents refer to the use of HEK 293 (human embryonic kidney) cells, which researchers have used for decades as biological workhorses. But a perusal of Senomyx's patents suggests that it may well be. Is this claim true? Neither Pepsi nor Senomyx returned calls, so we don't know the companies' side of the story. The second, and possibly more troubling, issue is that some of Pepsi's attempts to create groundbreaking and healthier products are now associated with fetal kidney cells. ![]() ![]() The first, most obvious one is that the beverage giant has now ardent anti-abortionists breathing down its neck. This accusation presents a two-fold problem for Pepsi. Numerous anti-abortion groups have started a boycott of Pepsi products because they say Senomyx, which develops new ingredients intended to enhance sweetness and other flavors, has done so using embryonic kidney cells that were originally taken from an aborted baby. A bizarre controversy is unfolding over an impending low-calorie soda from Pepsi (PEP), which the company is creating with the help of the biotech company Senomyx (SNMX). ![]()
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