The Student Room Group

Difference between therapeutic cloning and induced pluripotent stem cells?

Is it that:

therapeutic cloning takes the nucleus out of an egg cell and then takes the nucleus from a somatic cell and puts it into the egg cell and then this grows to form a blastocyst and then stem cells are taken from it.... whilst

induced pluripotent stem cells uses a virus to switch off/on certain genes so that the somatic cell reverts back to the stem cell (i.e no transfer of nucleus)

Is this correct?
Yes, it seems like you have summed it up nicely. The key difference between the two affects their ethical acceptability. iPSCs are adult cells that have been reprogrammed with the virus to force it to show characteristics of a pluripotent stem cell whereas theraputic cloning still makes use of a gamete, destroying potential life.

My extended project qualification dealt with iPSCs, but ive never compared them with theraputic cloning. You seem to have it straight though.
Bslforever
Yes, it seems like you have summed it up nicely. The key difference between the two affects their ethical acceptability. iPSCs are adult cells that have been reprogrammed with the virus to force it to show characteristics of a pluripotent stem cell whereas theraputic cloning still makes use of a gamete, destroying potential life.

My extended project qualification dealt with iPSCs, but ive never compared them with theraputic cloning. You seem to have it straight though.


thanks very very much! good luck with your medical application! Nice BMAt score!
dogdogdogcatcat
thanks very very much! good luck with your medical application! Nice BMAt score!


Ahh thanks a lot, glad i could help.

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