In addition to the moral argument against the use of somatic-cell nuclear transfer for the creation of a child (“reproductive cloning”), there are overwhelming scientific reasons to oppose this practice. In contrast, many believe that the practice of somatic-cell nuclear transfer with the goal of generating an embryonic stem-cell line (sometimes referred to as “therapeutic cloning”) is justifie...

Nuclear transfer to eggs or oocytes provides a potential route for cell-replacement therapies because oocytes directly reprogram transplanted mammalian somatic-cell nuclei such that they have an embryo-like pattern of gene expression. This includes a large increase in the mRNA level of the stem-cell marker gene oct4. We have developed a novel procedure to identify new proteins that greatly incr...

To investigate the embryonic genome organization upon fertilization and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), we tracked HP1β and CENP, two well-characterized protein markers of pericentric and centromeric compartments respectively, in four types of embryos produced by rabbit in vivo fertilization, rabbit parthenogenesis, rabbit-to-rabbit, and bovine-to-rabbit SCNT. In the interphase nuclei of ...

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of scriptaid (SCR), a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), on the in vitro and in vivo development of Wuzhishan miniature pig somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. Experiment 1 compared the in vitro developmental competence of nuclear transfer embryos treated with various concentrations of SCR for 24 h. Embryos treated with 250 n...

clinical application of embryonic stem (es) cells faces difficulties regarding tissue rejection as well as ethical limitations. one solution for these issues is to reprogram somatic cells by the injection of their nucleus into an enucleated oocyte or zygote. however, technical complications and ethical considerations have impeded the therapeutic implications of this technology. an approach whic...

Cloning by nuclear transfer remains inefficient but is more efficient when nuclei from embryonic cells or embryonic stem cells (ECNT) are employed as compared with somatic cells (SCNT). The factors determining efficiency have not been elucidated. We find that somatic and embryonic nuclei differ in their ability to organize meiotic and mitotic spindles of normal molecular composition. Calmodulin...