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To: neverdem
You seem to knowledgeable about this subject, so maybe you can shed light on a question I have always wondered about concerning the controversy over embryonic stem cells. Is there any difference between the stem cells of an aborted baby and a miscarried baby?
4 posted on 06/10/2009 12:45:27 PM PDT by layman (Card Carrying Infidel)
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To: layman
Is there any difference between the stem cells of an aborted baby and a miscarried baby?

In medical lingo, no, it's a spontaneous abortion that was incompatible with life from an inherited defect, acquired infection, etc. If you do obstricts, both count as an abortion as far as a woman's medical history goes. But depending on the time from conception most of their cells are well along to a committed cell type, i.e. differentiated according to the germ layer the cells came from. That's why induced pluripotent stem cells are the big deal now. They can take skin cells, reprogram them and get cells that appear to have all of the traits of human embryonic stem cells.

6 posted on 06/10/2009 5:38:37 PM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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