Stem Cells and Humans

An answer to my question whether or not stem cells are equivalent to embryos:

A human embryo — precisely because it is a complete member of the human species — can develop towards maturity, given a suitable environment and adequate nutrition. The embryo possesses the genetic and epigenetic primordia and the active disposition for self-directed growth towards the next more-mature stage. But this is not true of a stem cell or even of a mass of stem cells. Like somatic cells that might be used in cloning, they possess merely a passive capacity to be subjected to various techniques of asexual reproduction and so become parts of a new human organism.

Silver bases his claim that “embryonic stem cells are equivalent to embryos” on the fact that mouse embryos can be generated from embryonic mouse stem cells and have all of their genetic makeup, and cell lineage, derived from those initial stem cells. A tetraploid embryo-like entity known, though controversially, as a tetraploid “embryo” (“tetraploid” meaning that the entity has four sets of chromosomes rather than the normal two sets) is developmentally defective, so it can give rise only to trophoblastic cells (precursors of the placenta and associated tissues) and not to the cells of the “embryo proper.” When combined with mouse ES cells (ones that have a normal number of chromosomes), these can produce a chimeric mouse in which the cell lineage of its placenta and associated tissues is derived from the tetraploid entity (or “embryo”), and the cell lineage of the mature embryo (the “embryo proper”) is derived from the ES cells. From this, Silver infers that ES cells can by themselves develop into the mature stage of the animal (see his book, p. 140) — “by themselves” in the sense that the DNA in all of the mature embryo’s cells is identical to that in the ES cells.

From National Review article by Patrick Lee & Robert P. George.

Excerpt From The Idiot

About dreams and reason:

These letters too were like a dream. Sometimes one dreams strange, impossible and incredible dreams; on awakening you remember them and are amazed at a strange fact. You remember first of all that your reason did not desert you throughout the dream; you remember even that you acted very cunningly and logically through all that long, long time, while you were surrounded by murderers who deceived you, hid their intentions, behaved amicably to you while they had a weapon in readiness, and were only waiting for some signal; you remember how cleverly you deceived them at last, hiding from them; then you guessed that they'd seen through your deception are were only pretending not to know where you were hidden; but you were sly then and decieved them again; all this you remember clearly. But how was it that you could at the same time reconcile your reason to the obvious absurdities and impossibilities with which your dream was overflowing? One of your murderers turned into a woman before your eyes, and the woman into a little, sly loathsome dwarf--and you accepted it all at once as an accomplished fact, almost without the slightest surprise, at the very time when, on another side, your reason was at its highest tension and showed extraordinary power, cunning, sagacity, and logic? And why, too, on waking up and fully returning to reality, do you feel almost every time, and sometimes with extraordinary intensity, that you have left something unexplained behind with the dream? You laugh at the absudities of your dream, and at the same time you feel that interwoven with those absurdities some thought lies hidden, and a thought that is real, somethings belonging to your actual life, something that exists and has always existed in your heart. It's as though something new, prophetic, that you were awaiting, has been told your in your dream. Your impression is vivid, it may be joyful or agonizing, but what it is, and what was said to you, you cannot understand or recall. (Dostoevsky p.415 2004 Fine Creative Media Inc.)

Homemade Shelves

They are stackable so as I make more, we can rearrange things as we see fit. My workmanship is not great, but this is my first shelving project.

Happy Belated New Year

I don't have a lot of interesting things to say today, but I thought I would proclaim what I've been up to these days.

We had a Christmas.





















I finally finished The Myth of Religious Neutrality, but I am afraid I am going to have to withold judgement until I can study it further. There were a few concepts I didn't understand and some arguments that I could not follow upon the first read.

I discovered that my Library offers the use of the Rosetta Stone - language learning program online. I am learning Spanish, but I could choose to learn Chinese, Japanese, Latin, French, German, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, and more.

I am currently reading The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis and The Idiot by Dostoyevsky. I will soon be reading Biblical Theology by Gerhardus Vos (mostly so I can see what Nevada was fussing about a while ago.)

My cousin graciously lent me some DVD's produced by the Teaching company. I am watching the courses on String Theory, Particle Physics, and Argumentation.

Heather is reading Sin and Temptation (or is it Temptation and Sin?) by John Owen, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Future Grace by John Piper, and Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot.

We are both in a Bible reading plan to go through the Bible in a year. We started in May, so even though we are over half way through, we are in Genesis, Acts, Psalms, and Matthew.

Heather has been sewing. She just finished embroidering a dress she bought in Nicaragua, and modifying it into a tunic length shirt.

We just had our picture taken for the church directory tonight.

As of now my picture is on our church's website. I am the one with glasses under the "worship" heading. So now my mother can rest knowing that her son does in fact attend church.

And here is an old picture of me having fun raking (from this fall)(Heather wanted to let you know that she did most of the raking)