Will IPS Cells Obliterate Embryonic Stem Cell Debate?

Induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells can be created from simple skin cells using methods pioneered by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka that circumvent the need for destroying human embryos. This remarkable breakthrough should end the embryonic stem cell debate. That is if the goal is curing patients without sacrificing other human beings.

"While politicians and citizens debated the morality of using embryonic cells, Yamanaka, a professor at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan, developed a technology that may make the argument moot. Yamanaka, who has two daughters, started his effort 10 years ago, after peering at a tiny embryo through a microscope and reflecting that it might form a child if it wasn’t used to make stem cells, he said in an interview. "