Letter to the editor help needed - stem cell research

[goddess40]

shouldn't it be call zygote research? It seems to me that the research is done so early that the cells haven't formed into an embryo yet.

We've had a few ltte talking about adult stem cells being just as good and I know that isn't true.

[izzybeans]

1. Try here

It's a bit more complex than that.

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics3.asp

[goddess40]

3. But I have to try and make it simple

because that's the only way most Americans can wrap their puny little brains around it.

(Thanks for the link)

[izzybeans]

4. The term blastocyst from poster below would be the simplest way to go.

It used to be called fetal tissue research in some quarters so this makes sense too.

[Warpy]

2. Blastocyst research

The cells have divided enough to form a hollow ball. They are not differentiated at all, which is what makes them stem cells.

The embryo stage is much later, after the blstocyst has attached to the uterine wall.

There is no way in the world any knowledgable person could possibly call a blastocyst a human being, any more than the soccer ball it resembles is.

Stem cells harvested from adults are cells that have differentiated into specific stem cells. Stem cells from bone marrow will produce only blood cells, for example.

Good luck in combating deep fundy ignorance. I don't think it can be done.

[goddess40]

5. Thanks for the info. nt