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Somatic cell nuclear transfer

Abstract

Cloning by nuclear transfer from adult somatic cells is a remarkable demonstration of developmental plasticity. When a nucleus is placed in oocyte cytoplasm, the changes in chromatin structure that govern differentiation can be reversed, and the nucleus can be made to control development to term.

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Figure 1: A comparison of survival to term of bovine embryos produced either by in vitro fertilization or nuclear transfer from embryos, fetal or adult fibroblasts.
Figure 2: 5-Methyl cytosine immunostaining of pronuclear DNA in mouse and sheep zygotes.

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Acknowledgements

We each acknowledge discussions with colleagues during the development of these ideas and are grateful for funding from the governments, charities and commercial agencies acknowledged in our research papers.

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Correspondence to I. Wilmut.

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Wilmut, I., Beaujean, N., de Sousa, P. et al. Somatic cell nuclear transfer. Nature 419, 583–587 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01079

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