Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

From Embryology

Introduction

Page Under Development

Dolly the Sheep
Mice cloned from adult keratinocytes[1]

In 1996 Dolly the sheep was the first animal to be produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) using an adult-derived somatic cell as nuclear donor. A somatic cell refers to the fact that a cell that is not a germ cell (spermatozoa, oocyte) is used to generate a zygote from which the embryo develops. This topic is closely related to Stem Cells.

A range of different cell types has now been successfully applied to a range of species (cattle, mice, goats, pigs, cats, rabbits, horses, rats, dogs and ferrets. (see review[2])

SCNT Links: Introduction | Stem Cells - Induced | Stem Cells - SCNT | Epigenetics | Stem Cells | ART | Fertilization | Week 1 | Category:Zygote

Some Recent Findings

  • Number of blastomeres and distribution of microvilli in cloned mouse embryos during compaction[3] "We concluded that: (i) the cleavage of blastomeres in cloned embryos was slow at least before compaction; (ii) the distribution of microvilli in cloned, normal, parthenogenetic, and tetraploid embryos was coherent before and after compaction; and (iii) the initiation of compaction in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos was delayed compared with that of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) embryos."


SCNT Animal Timeline


Oocyte Enucleation

Before a somatic cell nuclei can be introduced into an oocyte, the oocyte's own nucleus needs to be removed. This process of oocyte nuclear removal is described as "oocyte enucleation". A recent study in cattle found oocyte imaging had a higher efficiency. [9]

The oocyte nucleus can be identified by:

  1. Hoechst staining and UV irradiation.
  2. Oocyte imaging.

Legislation

This technique essentially results in a clone of the original animal and therefore has been regulated by different countries in many different ways.

Australia

2010 - Cloning Legislative Review Committee Established

An independent committee has been established by the Federal Government to review cloning legislation in Australia (22 December 2010).

The independent Legislation Review Committee for the review of the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 was announced today by the Federal Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler.

2006 - Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Act 2006 (formerly known as the Patterson Bill) came into effect in June 2007.

2002 - Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 and the Prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002 were passed by Parliament in December 2002.

Links: Cloning Legislative Review Committee Established | - Cloning | Australian Statistics

References

  1. <pubmed>17299040</pubmed>| PMC1815251
  2. <pubmed>22681293</pubmed>
  3. <pubmed>20735894</pubmed>
  4. <pubmed>8598906</pubmed>
  5. <pubmed>9596577</pubmed>
  6. <pubmed>9690471</pubmed>
  7. <pubmed>10331804</pubmed>
  8. <pubmed>10993078</pubmed>
  9. <pubmed>22816525</pubmed>

Journals

  • Zygote An international journal dedicated to the rapid publication of original research in early embryology, Zygote covers interdisciplinary studies in animals and humans, from gametogenesis through fertilization to gastrulation.

Reviews

<pubmed>22536140</pubmed> <pubmed>22000472</pubmed> <pubmed>21982229</pubmed> <pubmed>21555407</pubmed> <pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed></pubmed>

Articles

Search Pubmed

June 2010 "zygote" All (6213) Review (651) Free Full Text (1543)

Search Pubmed: somatic cell nuclear transfer


Glossary Links

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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, March 28) Embryology Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Somatic_Cell_Nuclear_Transfer

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© Dr Mark Hill 2024, UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4 - UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G