Characterization of mesenchymal stem cells and their application in experimental embryology.

The efficiency of somatic cell cloning (somatic cell nuclear transfer; SCNT) as well as in vitro fertilization/in vitro embryo production (IVF/IVP) in mammals stay at relatively same level for over a decade. Despite plenty of different approaches none satisfactory break-through took place. In this article, we briefly summarize the implementation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for experimental embryology. The advantages of using MSCs as nuclear donors in somatic cell cloning and in vitro embryo culture are described. The description of results obtained with these cells in mammalian embryo genomic engineering is presented.