faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." Alternatives to embryonic stem cells Some stem cell researchers are working to develop techniques of isolating stem cells with similar potency as embryonic stem cells, but do not require the destruction of a human embryo. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) Foremost among these was the discovery in August 2006 that human adult somatic cells can be cultured in vitro with the four “Yamanaka factors” (Oct-4, SOX2, c-Myc, KLF4) which effectively returns a cell to the pluripotent state similar to that observed in embryonic stem cells. This major breakthrough won a Nobel Prize for the discoverers, Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon. Induced pluripotent stem cells are those derived from adult somatic cells and have the potential to provide an alternative for stem cell research that does not require the destruction of human embryos. Some debate remains about the similarities of these cells to embryonic stem cells as research has shown that the induced pluripotent cells may have a different epigenetic memory or modifications to the genome than embryonic stem cells depending on the tissue of origin and donor the iPSCs come from. While this may be the case, epigenetic manipulation of the cells is possible using small molecules and more importantly, iPSCs from multiple tissues of origin have been shown to give rise to a viable organism similar to the way ESCs can. This allows iPSCs to serve as a powerful tool for tissue generation, drug screening, disease modeling, and personalized medicine that has far fewer ethical considerations than embryonic stem cells that would otherwise serve the same purpose. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) In an alternative technique, researchers at Harvard University, led by Kevin Eggan and Savitri Marajh, have transferred the nucleus of a somatic cell into an existing embryonic stem cell, thus creating a new stem cell line. This technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) creates pluripotent cells that are genetically identical to the donor. While the creation of stem cells via SCNT does not destroy an embryo, it requires an oocyte from a donor which opens the door to a whole new set of ethical considerations such as the debate as to whether or not it