What biologist has ever claimed that an oocyte was not alive?

[pokerfan]

Biologist PZ Myers responds to the picture making the rounds on the RW blogosphere.

[center][/center]

That’s just bizarre. What biologist has ever claimed that an oocyte was not alive? Of course it’s alive: sperm and egg are perfectly healthy, normal living haploid cells, the fertilized egg is a living cell, the immature oogonia and spermatogonia in the gonad are living cells, the primordial germ cells in the developing gonad are alive.

The argument is never about whether some state is alive or not. Your appendix and tonsils are great masses of living cells, but if the organ becomes inflamed, doctors will cut them out and throw them away. Every time you poop, about a third of that mass that you excrete and flush away consists of living bacterial cells, yet no one hesitates and feels regret at the tragic loss of life when their hand is on the handle.

The argument is about whether that living thing is a person requiring extensive legal and moral protection, and it’s entirely clear that “life” is not a sufficient criterion, or people would be lobbying for the protection of turds and tonsils. We are not absolutists about protecting all life; we can’t be.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/04/03/irrational-humans

[mike_c]

1. when confronted with the question "when does life begin?" I always respond....

About three billion years ago, give or take. There is an unbroken chain of living cells all the way back to the last common ancestor of everything alive on Earth today. Life today does not begin. It continues.

[randome]

2. Well put.

[snooper2]

5. I respond when the being is capable of living outside the womb on it's own

[pokerfan]

13. and then sit back and watch the creationist's head explode

"3.5 Bya?! Wait... Wha?"

[kestrel91316]

14. GMTA. I say the same thing. I get blank stares.

[Brickbat]

3. A FB friend of mine just posted this, and I was thinking you could also put "an ant" at the top of

the graphic instead of "a single living cell," and then we could ask WHY DO WE CALL EXTERMINATORS IF ANTS ARE IN OUR HOUSES?

[MrScorpio]

4. Every sperm is sacred, baby!

[pokerfan]

8. I was tempted to recreate the poster

featuring sperm cells:



But then I realized that would just embolden their anti-contraception, anti-masturbation positions.

[MrScorpio]

10. Damn skippy!

And you can take that to the bank:

[RZM]

6. I do understand where abortion opponents are coming from. I just don't agree with them

I've known enough of them and had enough conversations about it that I at least understand why they believe what they do. It's not what I believe and it's tough to comprehend their frame of mind, but I understand that many are quite passionate about it and can't really be swayed.

But I support abortion rights. They don't, and they are entitled to that opinion. But I'm entitled to mine and I will vote with my position in mind.

[HereSince1628]

7. True, ideas of H. sapiens life-beginning at conception is a concept of "special creation"

And also true that the definitions of what is a 'human' life and 'personhood' are outside the domain of biological science.

[jimlup]

9. Every Sperm is Sacred!

[link:

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[Ecumenist]

11. This is what happens when you don't take a science class and don't pay attention if you do.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Tell them they had gills and a tail, once, as an embryo.

Then watch their heads explode!!