The National Institutes of Health defines “inner cell mass” as follows: “the cluster of cells inside the blastocyst. These cells give rise to the embryo and ultimately the fetus.” This is false. The inner cell mass consists of embryonic stem cells. These cells do not “give rise to the embryo.” It is the other way around. The embryo gives rise to these cells. The embryo exists prior to the existence of the inner cell mass. These stem cells simply continue forming what came into existence several days earlier: a new human individual. It’s better to say it the way the NIH said it, however, because it makes people think the stem cells are being extracted from something that is not a human embryo.