WORCESTER, MA, July 19, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), which last week announced it had commenced experiments to mass produce human clones for stem cell research, is now attempting to camouflage its controversial operations with deceptive language tactics. The company is refusing to use the term ‘embryo’ and is instead calling the early stage humans ‘entities.’
The clones are to be created from the fusion of a cell from an adult with a donated human ovum that has been stripped of its own genes. The result, if the scientists achieve it, would be a live human embryos with the same genetic makeup as the adults who donated the cells – human clones – who would then be killed in order to harvest their stem cells. However, ACT says they are out to produce not embryos but “cloned human entities.”
National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) caught ACT in their transition period prior to fully implanting the semantic maneuver. In an article published in the National Review, NRLC director Douglas Johnson writes that, while ACT chief executive Michael West recently used the term ‘embryo,’ the chair of ACT’s ethics board told the press another story. Dartmouth University professor Ronald Green insisted, “These are not embryos. They are not the result of fertilization and there is no intent to implant these in women and grow them.’‘
For more see the National Review at: https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-johnson071701.shtml