i am actually not surprised by this. i read a book
about the history of stem cell research and was
fascinated by the discovery of the origins of a type
of tumor called a teratoma (maybe you know all about
them - i had never heard of them) - which leads to
something a little different from what the researchers
in this article have found, but related, and
interesting.

there is an unfortunate strain of mice that seems to
be predisposed to this malady and a researcher whose
name escapes me discovered that these tumors begin to
form in the developing mouse embryo or fetus when a
germ cell (sperm or egg for those who, like me, had
forgotten what a germ cell was) somehow ended up
somewhere it wasn''t supposed to be - wasn't clear to
me whether it migrated to the wrong place or came into
being in the wrong place.

but germ cells (and maybe all cells in a developing
entity, i don't know) must get a lot of the
"instructions" they follow in developing from the
environment, or area of the body in which they are
supposed to be, because these misplaced germ cells
start doing stuff that they are simply not supposed to
do, i.e., they start dividing exactly like an embryo
would.

and for some period of time (not very long) they
continue to divide and proceed exactly like an embryo
- the instructions triggering the commencement of
differentiation have been received and differentiation
has begun. eventually they are ready for the next set
of instructions, which must contain the how-to for
keeping all that differentiation organized, because
when those instructions are not forthcoming, the
developing entity loses its coherence and while it
continues along the path of differentiation, it does
so in a chaotic way - and inside a teratoma one finds
random fully differentiated cells, like bone, bronchil
tissue, hair and teeth.

Some who oppose ESCR have argued that a zygote, or the
earliest stage of an embryo, is just as sacred as a
fully formed human because it contains the entire
blueprint for becoming a fully formed human. but seem
to me the formation of teratomas could be evidence of
a couple of things.

first, that the zygote does *not* contain the entire
blue print. seems more likely to me that it contains
instruction on the first few steps, which must end
such that the developing entity is in a state
receptive to, or seeking out, the next set of
instructions - and the whole deal is off if that next
set of instructions is not forthcoming. so the zygote
does *not* contain the entire blueprint - it just
starts the ball rolling - the next set comes from its
environment (or not). at least that is the way it
seems.

the other thing it says to me is that every single
germ cell has the potential *on its own* to become an
embryo. all it needs are the wrong instructions - it
has all of the necessary building blocks. it is even
possible that rather than it being a case of the
presence of the wrong instructions, it could be the
absence of the right ones, where the right ones would
*stop* the cell from starting down the path of
differentiation.

all very interesting, particularly in view of the
sacredness those who oppose  ESCR place on a cell's
*potential* to become a fully formed human being.






--- "M.Schild" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> March 26, 2006
>  Amrita Rajan
>
>
> The fruit of your loins might just be an end to the
> suffering of millions
> worldwide.
> According to German scientists, cells from mice
> testes "closely mimic"
> embryonic stem cells, i.e. they can transform into
> almost any type of body
> tissue.
> All stem cells - whether embryonic or not - possess
> three characteristics:
> "they are capable of dividing and renewing
> themselves for long periods; they
> are unspecialized; and they can give rise to
> specialized cell types." The
> problem, however, is to keep the stem cells
> unspecialized in laboratory
> conditions until they are needed. Thus far,
> embryonic stem cells are the only
> ones that scientists have been able to stabilize as
> required. That process
> took 20 years to master. The discovery of the mice
> testes, therefore, is
> significant.
> Of course, in case the lab results can be duplicated
> in humans, many people
> will be happy for more than purely scientific
> reasons. In case you missed it,
> a lot of people have been very unhappy about the
> "embryonic" in embryonic
> stem cells. To find cures for diseases such as
> Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
> are of course noble goals, but the fact that those
> cures might come from the
> yet unrealized corpses of future generations of
> humans was too much to
> swallow for some people.
> Some people who vote. And others who just pray -
> loudly.
> And so the news that we don't have to wait for the
> sperm to make its way into
> an egg for science to advance is no doubt very good
> news. Now, we can go
> directly to the source and hope that there is not
> much difference between man
> and mouse.
> It is too early to know what the proponents of
> Intelligent Design are thinking
> but it is possible that in the interests of
> scientific achievement they will
> take the stance that when the Designer was Designing
> us all, He knew we might
> have need of mice to point us in the right path.
> Only time, or An Entity not quite God but
> suspiciously like Him, can tell.
>
> Amrita Rajan lives and lives to write in NYC. [Was
> that too cute for you?]
>
>
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