MSU find could alter debate on stem cells: Process may end destruction of embryos, eggs

Source: Lansing State Journal
Posted: September 7, 2006

Summary:

Researchers at Michigan State University have taken the first steps toward developing a process that could allow scientists to produce embryonic stem cells without using human embryos or even human eggs. A team reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have identified the genes that are active only in the human egg. The researchers said Identifying those genes brings them closer to understanding how eggs produce embryonic stem cells and to being able to duplicate that process without eggs or embryos.

Commentary: Maybe this discovery will eventually diffuse the ethical controversy surrounding embryonic stem cell research.