Cloning Dolly

show/hide words to know

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): molecular instructions that guide how all living things develop and function...more

Egg: a female gamete, which keeps all the parts of a cell after fusing with a sperm.

Gamete: specialized cells found in your reproductive organs that have half the amount of DNA of somatic cells. These cells combine to make a fertilized egg... more

Gene: a region of DNA that instructs the cell on how to build protein(s). As a human, you usually get a set of instructions from your mom and another set from your dad... more

Nucleus: where DNA stays in the cell, plural is nuclei.

Sperm: a male gamete, which fuses with the egg during fertilization... more

Nuclear Transfers for the Uptown Bus

nuclear transfers

Scientists found that they could make clones through a process called nuclear transfer. Nuclear transfer uses the technology that puts a sperm into an egg for artificial fertilization, but takes it a step further.

Almost all cells have a nucleus. A nucleus is where the DNA or genetic blueprint for life is located inside the cell. When you remove the nucleus, it is called enucleation. Pronounced: E' - new - klee - a - shun. Removing the nucleus requires the use of a small needle that is inserted into the cell. The needle sucks the nucleus out of the cell. The same process is performed on another cell. The nuclei can be switched then. The cells recover from the needle wound and start working again.


Credits: Image from Mizutani, E. et al. Generation of cloned mice and nuclear transfer embryonic stem cell lines from urine-derived cells. Sci. Rep6, 23808; doi: 10.1038/srep23808 (2016). Retrieved July 2, 2016 from https://www.nature.com/articles/srep23808  Published under Creative Commons BY 4.0 International.

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Bibliographic details:

  • Article: Nuclear Transfers
  • Author(s): Faye Farmer
  • Publisher: Arizona State University School of Life Sciences Ask A Biologist
  • Site name: ASU - Ask A Biologist
  • Date published: September 29, 2009
  • Date accessed: March 24, 2024
  • Link: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/content/nuclear-transfers

APA Style

Faye Farmer. (2009, September 29). Nuclear Transfers. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved March 24, 2024 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/content/nuclear-transfers

American Psychological Association. For more info, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Chicago Manual of Style

Faye Farmer. "Nuclear Transfers". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 29 September, 2009. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/content/nuclear-transfers

MLA 2017 Style

Faye Farmer. "Nuclear Transfers". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 29 Sep 2009. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 24 Mar 2024. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/content/nuclear-transfers

Modern Language Association, 7th Ed. For more info, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/

Pipette holding egg (left) while nucleus is removed from the cell using a fine needle (right).

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