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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?] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn