>> The genetic code of a sperm or egg is unique <<
so what, i never claimed it wasn't. i simply said that an egg wasn't a human life, it is a potential human life.
>> The expression of genes may come from one set or another, but the uniqueness was set before mating <<
obviously i need to go a little bit slower for some of you.
the reason a human life is created at conception is because two pairs of 23 chromosomes are paired upon fertilization. the egg and sperm may be alive, and may be unique, but they don't have the required pairing that almost always results in 46 chromosomes to be classified as human life. they are only half of the pairing, with 23 chromosomes.
the only reason i brought up the term unique was to point out that upon conception, the genetic code created is 46 chromosomes just like the mother has, but an entirely different set of chromosomes. therefore you cannot claim even at one cell that the life is just a part of the mother like her hair or her arm or whatever. the mother's hair cells, and cells making up her arm or whatever are all made up of the same 46 chromosomes. the 46 chromosomes making up the fertilized egg are not like any of the chromosomes found in the trillions of cells in the mother.
>> Didn't they teach you that in school? <<
let's review:
1) eggs and sperm are considered to be "alive" just like the trillions of cells that make up your body
2)egg and sperm may be unique, but they are only half of the chromosomal pairing that is required to be considered human.
3) to be considered a human life, you need to have a pairing of 23 chromosomes, found in the egg and sperm. some people end up with one more or less, but that is irrelevant to the discussion.
4) a fertilized egg at the moment of conception fits all the criteria of human life. it has a pairing of 23 chromosomes, all the genetic code needed for the rest of a person's life. you have the exact same genetic code on your deathbed that you did when you were simply one cell. these 46 chromosomes are in not the same 46 chromosomes found in all the rest of the mother's body, making the fertilized egg a unique individual with its own genetic code, separate and distinct from the mother.
5) eggs and sperm may be alive (just like trillions of other cells), and they may be unique, but that is not enough to consider them human life. only when they are joined do they fit the criteria of human life |
