What is A Stem Cell?

Over at Millenial Star they're talking about stem cells--which on a large blog is like yelling food fight in a cafeteria. I don't know what Harvard is doing, but I don't think I agree with Mitt Romney's approach. I am a cautious supporter of embryonic stem cell research. Not providing public funding is one thing, but banning seems overboard to me. But like I said, I don't know what specific practices he objects to.

Rather than re-hash arguments that will not change anyone's mind, I'm going to aim for education.


Continue Reading

On the side bar under "Science Links" is a link called "Reference Books." These science textbooks availabe online--for free. Some of them only allow you to access the content by searching--you can't just browse. This limitation can be somewhat overcome by clicking "full contents" at the top, and then entering search terms contained in the sub-section you want to read. There are often diagrams and figures on the sides of the pages, so don't miss them.

You can search an individual book, or all of the books. So go to the link and enter "embryonic stem cells" as the search terms. You'll see a lot of hits. There is a developmental biology book, as well as Molecular Biology of the Cell. They will probably be the most informative resources. Unfortunately the hits within a book are not organized by chapter order, so you'll have to hunt around a little. But without too much effort, you'll figure out how to navigate around and get the info you want.

So go to it and good luck.