Dr. Fauci Did Not Conduct Secret Experiments With Aborted Fetuses and Rats
The Claim
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been conducting secret experiments in which he transplanted the body parts of aborted fetuses onto rats.
News posted on
Emerging story
On May 7th, a number of conspiracy theory websites published reports with the headline, “Dr Fauci Spent $400K To Conduct Secret Experiments Transplanting Scalps Of Aborted Fetuses Onto Living Rats.”
The text of these articles explained that the so-called secret experiments were conducted at the University of Pittsburgh. It went on to make other outlandish statements, such as that Dr. Fauci funded the engineering of the coronavirus in a Chinese laboratory.
These claims then spread to social media, with some posts gaining hundreds of interactions.
Misbar’s Analysis
It is false to state that Dr. Fauci was conducting experiments with aborted fetuses and rats, or that the studies in question were secret. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology used small amounts of fetal tissue in a study about how human skin can protect from pathogen transmission. This may have been the origin of the false claims.
A source that the conspiracy theory articles use is a September, 2020 issue of the scientific journal, Nature. It describes a range of studies about human skin which were conducted by the University of Pittsburgh. The report also states that it used fetal tissue which was grafted onto mice and rats. It was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, but the report does not mention Dr. Fauci. It is also unlikely that Dr. Fauci was personally involved with this study, as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has six divisions, and the Office of the Director alone has a range of sub-offices. Lastly, the source states that the fetal tissues were obtained from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and that the study had obtained written consent from the maternal donors.
Funding data from the National Institutes of Health does indicate that the funding for these experiments totaled a little over $400,000. A spokesperson for University of Pittsburgh told Told The Federalist that the studies were not sourced from taxpayer money.
It appears as if the origin of the false claims began when the Facebook page for Republic Keeper Podcast published an update on May 6th, titled “Dr. Facui Spent over $400K on the use of Fetal Tissue at his agency.” Additionally, the podcast host announced, “So Dr. Fauci has no problem using aborted fetal tissue in his research.” The post also linked to a source for these claims. But this source does not state that Fauci was conducting the experiments or that the experiments were conducted in secret. Instead, the headline makes it clear that Fauci’s agency was behind the funding of these studies. Neither the headline nor the content of the article make any reference to the experiments being done secretly.
Therefore, it is false to state that Dr. Fauci was conducting these experiments. Instead, he was heading the institute that provided the college the funding for these experiments. Additionally, there is zero indication that these experiments were ever a secret.
