Why is stem cell research confused with cloning?
Stem cell research is often confused with cloning because both areas involve the use of embryonic cells. The public and the media often equate “cloning” with the manipulation of embryonic cells to produce an organism, and stem cell research was first brought to the spot light when human stem cells were isolated from human “embryonic tissues”. Both fields got even more confused when the term therapeutic cloning was introduced as a means to produce embryonic stem cells. But stem cell research does not always involve embryonic stem cells.
A. Stem cell research is often confused with cloning because both areas involve the use of embryonic cells. The public and the media often equate “cloning” with the manipulation of embryonic cells to produce an organism, and stem cell research was first brought to the spotlight when human stem cells were isolated from human “embryonic tissues”. Both fields got even more confused when the term “therapeutic cloning” was introduced as a means to produce embryonic stem cells. But stem cell research does not always involve embryonic stem cells. While reproductive cloning and SCNT both use techniques involving embryos, stem cell research involves the use of several different types of cells besides embryonic stem cells, such as adult stem cells from humans or animals, or stem cells from foetuses, umbilical cord or amniotic fluid. Thus, a clear line should be drawn between cloning, for the production of a cell or organism with the same nuclear genome as another cell or organism and stem cell r
