This is how the term “somatic cell nuclear transfer” is defined on the National Institutes of Health Web site:
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT—A technique that combines an enucleated egg (nucleus removed) and the nucleus of a somatic cell to make an embryo. SCNT is the scientific term for cloning. SCNT can be used for therapeutic or reproductive purposes, but the initial stage that combines an enucleated egg and a somatic cell nucleus is the same. See also therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning.
Oh, and guess what? There is no entry in the NIH stem cell glossary for “early stem cells,” the euphemistic advocacy term Wagar’s uses in his reporting—as do the editorial writers for the KC Star—in place of the scientifically accurate and logically descriptive “embryonic stem cells.” This violates proper journalistic standards, it seems to me, because the Fifth Estate is supposed to inform the public, not propagandize it.
I have sent this information to Kit Wagar. But what do you bet that he and the KC Star editorial writers don’t align their future word usage to match the proper and accurate scientific terminology.
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