In 2006, researchers in Japan discovered a method of reprogramming mice skin cells so that they functioned like embryonic stem cells. The reprogrammed cells are called “induced pluripotent stem cells” (hereafter referred to as iPSC). Nature also reported that the “resultant induced pluripotent stem cells proliferate indefinitely in culture and differentiate into all the tissues necessary to generate a live mouse.” Needless to say, this was a stunning breakthrough. The potential human benefit of iPSC is that the patient will have access to his own skin tissue, thus, his own DNA. As reported in Nature, “iPS cells may be not only easier to use but perhaps superior, as they would share [the same] DNA with the original patient…” In other words, with iPSC, there is no need to create a separate embryo with the patient’s DNA for the sole purpose of producing stem cells to treat the patient. Nature reports that the “fact that making iPS cells does not pose the technical and ethical challenges of working with eggs or embryos is drawing large numbers of researchers into the field and speeding up reprogramming research. ”However, a recent 2010 study has raised doubts about the promise of iPSCR. Some scientists argue that iPSC do not differentiate as efficiently as hESC. In my paper, I will discuss some of the most recent developments in stem cell technology. I will argue that the success or failure of stem cell technology should not be the decisive issue in the discussion. If embryos, from the moment of fertilization, are individual humans worthy of moral protection, then hESC research is an immoral enterprise. It amounts to the utilitarian practice of taking innocent lives for the benefit of others and it forces human embryos to become mere products to be used for unproven therapies.