TORONTO, Aug 3, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Dr. Dianne Irving, a former biochemist with the National Institutes of Health and currently a world renowned bioethicist, has released a paper showing that so-called 'embryonic stem cells' can become embryos. Irving notes in her paper that this fact is well documented in embryology textbooks. Moreover she quotes fertility specialists who attest to this fact since they use the same procedure as scientists use to extract 'stem cells' to create more embryos from a single embryo – a type of forced twinning.
Dr. John Shea, M.D., medical consultant to Campaign Life Coalition explains, in a recent resource paper written on the topic for Campaign Life Coalition:
“The early embryo (up to 16 days post fertilization) is composed of cells, called blastomeres, which are considered to be totipotent, that is, capable in isolation, of forming a complete embryo. This capacity is due to a process called “regulation”, a natural tendency or property inherent in these separated cells or groups of cells. These separated blastomeres have been dubbed “embryonic stem cells” by those who use them for research.”
Experts in the field of in vitro fertilization are aware of these facts. Prof. Dr. Mithhat Erenus has stated … “Since each early embryonic cell is totipotent … embryo multiplication is technically possible … the critical period of development to ensure success … is reported to be between the 4 and 8 cell stages … for couples who have less than 3 quality embryos for transfer, blastomere separation could be of benefit.”
For further explanation on this matter see
https://www.lifesitenews.com/features/stemcellembryo/stemcellsembryos.html
See LifeSite's Stem Cell Resource Page:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/features/stemcellembryo/index.html