this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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Does this really solve the ethical wicket of human embryo testing? Is tricking stem cells into forming an embryo really that different from fertilizing an egg with a sperm cell to form an embryo? Like, would this still develop into a functional human being if implanted into a womb?
This is the type of question that has no definitive answer.
It absolutely does, but those pesky ethics mean no one will try to find out.
No. This is a purely philosophical question.
From a biological standpoint, a re-juvenated stem cell and a freshly fertilized stem cell are identical. But how you interpret this is a completely different question.
Just think about the implications: a clump of your cells are "you", if you want to kill them, you're free to do so. However, if someone grows a human from these cells, are you still allowed to do that? Is that suicide or homicide? There's a line between these two examples and where to draw that is an open question.
There were several questions asked, but the one I was referring to,
Absolutely has a definitive answer that can be figured out.