Stem Cell Discovery -- Another Argument

Rick's recent post described Prof. Russell Korobkin's arguments in the wake of the announcement of the discovery of an alternative to embyonic stem cells -- the ability to induce a pluripotent state in skin cells ("induced pluripotent state", or "ipc").  Korobkin repeats the basic argument for continuing with embryonic research despite this development -- that there's nothing ethically problematic about the use of embryonic stem cells for research. 

There's an interview with biologist Lee Silver on the NYT site that demonstrates a twist on this basic argument.  He argues that the ipc cells aren't morally distinguishable from embryonic stem cells because they, too, could develop into embryos.   Is that true?   (Carter?) I haven't gotten that impression from anything I've read.  His claim is that this whole discovery is a cynical semantic game that's going to allow scientists to essentially continue embryonic stem cell research because the vocabulary is being manipulated.  (But I gather that doesn't trouble him, because he shares Korobkin's view about the ethics of embryonic cell research.) 

The interview is worth watching, for a sobering sense of the way some scientists argue about this issue.  Listen carefully around 4 minutes, 30 seconds into the interview for the most chilling description of the human soul you're likely to hear!