Source and Type

March 27, 2006

(via Washington Post and AP)
Saturday’s Washington Post carried an article whose headline trumpeted, “Embryonic Stem Cell Success.” The story reports that German scientists have retrieved cells from the testes of mice and transformed them into cells capable of forming a variety of tissue types. The technical term for this type of cell is pluripotent. The headline writer is confusing source with type. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, that’s why they are so highly sought after. The large question, though, is whether other sources of pluripotent stem cells exit. This study seems to indicate that, in mice, there are cells in the testes that can be transformed into pluripotent stem cells.

The AP story on the same subject (headline: “Mouse testicles may hold stem cells’ promise”) is much closer to getting it right: “German scientists say cells from the testes of mice can behave like embryonic stem cells.”

Terminology has been a huge source of confusion in the stem cell debate. Shouldn’t major news outlets be as clear as possible?