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Related Concept Videos

Embryonic Stem Cells00:57

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells were first discovered in mice in 1981 by Martin Evans. In 1998, James Thomson identified a method to isolate embryonic stem cells from humans. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are obtained from 3-5 day old embryos that remain unused after an in vitro fertilization procedure.
ES cells are grown in a culture medium where they can divide indefinitely, creating ES cell lines. Under certain conditions, ES cells can differentiate, either spontaneously into a variety of...
Embryonic Stem Cells00:58

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are undifferentiated pluripotent cells, meaning they can produce any cell type in the body. This gives them tremendous potential in science and medicine since they can generate specific cell types for use in research or to replace body cells lost due to damage or disease.
Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming01:24

Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming

Nuclear reprogramming is a process of transforming one cell type into an unrelated cell type by epigenetic changes that alter the cell’s original gene expression pattern. Such epigenetic changes force cells to express a different set of genes, which play a significant role in inducing transformation into other cell types. Nuclear reprogramming offers applications in reproductive cloning for livestock propagation and regenerative medicine — developing patient-specific cells for injury repair.
Introduction to Nuclear Reprogramming01:14

Introduction to Nuclear Reprogramming

Nuclear reprogramming is the process of switching gene expression of one cell type to that of another cell type, usually from a differentiated cell state to an undifferentiated cell state. Differentiation occurs during processes such as development and morphogenesis, tissue regeneration, and malignancy. Cells can also be artificially induced to reprogram their gene expression by techniques such as nuclear transfer, induced pluripotency, and cell fusion. Such techniques have many applications in...
Stem Cell Culture01:17

Stem Cell Culture

Stem cell research aims to find ways to use stem cells to regenerate and repair cellular damage. Over time, most adult cells undergo the wear and tear of aging and lose their ability to divide and repair themselves. Stem cells do not display a particular morphology or function. Adult stem cells, which exist as a small subset of cells in most tissues, keep dividing and can differentiate into a number of specialized cells generally formed by that tissue. These cells enable the body to renew and...
Reproductive Cloning01:27

Reproductive Cloning

Reproductive cloning is the process of producing a genetically identical copy—a clone—of an entire organism. While clones can be produced by splitting an early embryo—similar to what happens naturally with identical twins—cloning of adult animals is usually done by a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
In SCNT, an egg cell is taken from an animal and its nucleus is removed, creating an enucleated egg. Then a somatic cell—any cell that is not a sex...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Nuclear Transfer into Mouse Oocytes
14:17

Nuclear Transfer into Mouse Oocytes

Published on: November 30, 2006

Stem cells, nuclear transfer and respect for embryos.

Jens Clausen1

  • 1Institute for Ethics and History in Medicine, Gartenstrasse 47, 72074 Tübingen, Germany. jens.clausen@uni-tuebingen.de

Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics
|June 8, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Altering nuclear transfer (NT) to create human embryonic stem (hES) cells is ethically problematic. This research argues that both somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and altered nuclear transfer (ANT) produce embryos with moral status, making hES cell derivation premature.

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Area of Science:

  • Bioethics
  • Stem Cell Biology
  • Embryology

Background:

  • Human embryonic stem (hES) cell research is controversial due to embryo destruction.
  • Altered nuclear transfer (ANT) is proposed to bypass ethical concerns by avoiding embryo involvement.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the ethical implications of ANT and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) for hES cell generation.
  • To determine the moral status of entities created through NT procedures.

Main Methods:

  • Ethical analysis of embryo definition and moral status.
  • Review of nuclear transfer techniques (SCNT and ANT).

Main Results:

  • Entities created by SCNT and ANT are considered embryos with moral status equivalent to natural embryos.
  • Ethical principles of proportionality, probability, and subsidiarity guide embryo research.
  • ANT is rendered obsolete, and SCNT for hES cell production is deemed premature.

Conclusions:

  • The creation of hES cell lines via SCNT or ANT does not circumvent ethical considerations regarding embryo status.
  • Research utilizing human embryos should be reserved for high-priority goals with proven efficacy and no alternatives.