Clone the Truth #15

It has been slim pickin's for Clone the Truth lately.  It seems every article I read, except ones from the Kansas City Star, concede that somatic cell nuclear transfer creates a cloned embryo at least somewhere in the story.  (If anyone finds one that doesn't, feel free to e-mail me the link and I will fire off a letter.)

Here is one from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Dear Editor,

I am writing to inform you of a critical omission in Jo Mannies's article "Social conservatives welcome Talent’s stem cell stance" dated 5/7/06 as seen on www.stltoday.com.

Mannies writes, "At issue is a procedure called somatic cell nuclear transfer, which involves an unfertilized human egg that has its nucleus replaced with that from another cell. No sperm is involved."  In somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) the nucleus of an egg is replaced with a nucleus from a somatic cell, but Mannies fails to identify that the product of SCNT is a cloned embryo.  This is a critical point and crucial part of the debate over this initiative. 

 

Please see this tutorial on SCNT from Princeton's Dept. of Molecular Biology that clearly shows that the product of SCNT is a cloned embryo:

 

http://www.molbio.princeton.edu/courses/mb427/2001/projects/09/transfertutorial.htm

 

It is critical that the voters in Missouri understand this initiative so that they can make an informed decision.  That requires the correct scientific descriptions of the techniques involved.  I therefore ask that in the future you include the fact that SCNT creates a cloned embryo in your reports.

 

Sincerely,

Rebecca Taylor