Background: Among wide range of bio-conservational strategies envisaged, recent accomplishments in the field of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) holds considerable promise due to its unique potential to decelerate or prevent rapid loss of animal genetic resources, and even to revive extinct species. This study was undertaken to investigate whether domestic sheep in vitro matured and enuclea...

introduction: cloning an individual by transferring somatic nuclei into enucleated recipient oocytes has already been well established. this technology also offers new opportunities to restore threatened species with interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (scnt). however, few mammalian species have been studied for their reproductive biology whereas huge differences have been observed betwe...

In the field of developmental biology, the concept that cells, once terminally differentiated, are fixed in their cell fate was long believed to be true. However, Dr. Gurdon and colleagues challenged this fundamental doctrine and demonstrated that cellular reprogramming and cell fate conversion are possible by somatic nuclear transfer and cell fusion. The Weintraub laboratory discovered in the ...

DNA methylation is an essential mechanism controlling gene expression during differentiation and development. We investigated the epigenetic regulation of the nuclear-encoded, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymerase γ catalytic subunit (PolgA) by examining the methylation status of a CpG island within exon 2 of PolgA. Bisulphite sequencing identified low methylation levels (<10%) within exon 2 of ...

Limitations on a differentiated cell's pluripotency can be erased by nuclear transfer or by fusion with embryonic stem cells, but attempts to recapitulate this process of nuclear reprogramming by molecular means have failed. In this issue of Cell, Takahashi and Yamanaka (2006) take a rational approach to identifying a suite of embryonic transcription factors whose overexpression restores plurip...

Genetically modified cattle are important for developing new biomedical models and for an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of zoonotic diseases. However, genome editing and genetic engineering based on somatic cell nuclear transfer suffer from a low overall efficiency. Here, we established a highly efficient one-step multiplex gene transfer system into the bovine genome.

Background: To evaluate current scientific and legal trends in provision of human eggs for stem cell research and to propose a policy which is both ethically and scientifically sound Materials and Methods: Literature survey of European and US policies on payment for egg donation in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) research; comparative analysis of potential for success in SCNT and induced p...

germline and somatic stem cells are distinct types of stem cells that are dedicated to reproduction and somatic tissue regeneration, respectively. germline stem cells (gscs), which can self-renew and generate gametes, are unique stem cells in that they are solely dedicated to transmit genetic information from generation to generation. we developed a strategy for the establishment of germline st...

Somatic cloning, also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is a promising technology which has been expected to rapidly extend the population of elaborately selected breeding boars with superior production performance. Chinese Guike No. 1 pig breed is a novel swine specialized strain incorporated with the pedigree background of Duroc and Chinese Luchuan pig breeds, thus inherits an ex...