Monday, October 17, 2005

Stem Cell Breakthrough: Researchers Offer Proof-of-concept For Altered Nuclear Transfer

Source: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Posted: October 17, 2005

Summary:

Scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have successfully demonstrated that a theoretical--and controversial--technique for generating embryonic stem cells is indeed possible, at least in mice. The theory, called altered nuclear transfer (ANT), proposes that researchers first create genetically altered embryos that are unable to implant in a uterus, and then extract stem cells from these embryos. Because the embryos cannot implant, they are by definition not "potential" human lives.