Stem-Cell-Like Cells Produced From Skin

MikShapi writes "Skin cells can now be turned into something resembling stem cells. A genetic modification to four genes using a viral vector reverses differentiating, making the cells revert to a stem-cell state, capable for becoming any other cell in the body. The researchers are calling them 'iPS cells' or 'induced pluripotent stem cells.' In their experiments, iPS cells in the lab turned into nerve cells, heart muscle, and other tissues. The research was published in Cell and Nature by teams from the universities of Kyoto and Wisconsin. The article notes that if the new method proves successful, 'we can disconnect the whole stem cell debate from the culture war, from battles over embryo politics and abortion rights.' And, should this technique be adopted, stem cells will henceforth be abundant, easier and cheaper to come by for research and therapeutic purposes."

Comments

Re:nigger

[nawcom]

extremely good point. Sex usually isn't forced, unless it is related to some religious belief system you follow. In that case, change your religion.

Re:Viable

[Reality Master 101]

What's viable about an aborted fetus removed from the mother's womb in the first trimester or even much earlier?

It's viable prior to the abortion.

I see very little difference between sperm cells and a mass of a couple hundred undifferentiated cells.

By that logic, I could make exactly the same argument about a newborn, which is not sentient. It's just a mass of cells with no personality or individuality -- only potential.

And how many of those has the average teenager doomed to oblivion?

"Doom to oblivion", how dramatic. Sheesh. The teenager's social life getting interrupted for nine months until she can put the baby up for adoption doesn't hold much interest to me compared to ending a human life. If she's capable of having sex, she's capable of handling the consequences of sex.

An individual human life either has value, or it does not. If it does, then any point after a new set of genetics is formed and has a viable chance to grow into an intelligent being is an arbitrary line.

I like to put it this way (and people always go insane and their brain's turn off when I say this, so I won't bother to debate it further): The fetus jointly owns the mother's body with the mother until it's born. There is a natural right to the host mother's body, because that's how people are created. And just to answer the question, yes, if the mother's life is in danger (which is incredibly rare, but anyway), then the baby has "broken the contract" so to speak, and the mother's life has to take priority.

And just to answer the inevitable other question, no, the baby shouldn't die for the sins of the father in cases of rape. It's not the baby's fault. I sympathize with the mother, but killing the baby doesn't make the situation better, it makes it worse. A lot of the emotional damage is actually done by abortion advocates telling rape victims that the baby is a horrible inhuman thing that should be killed.