Institute of Experimental Medicine CAS

Published 24. 06. 2021

The current (special) issue of Reproduction was published to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep. This was the first-ever successful cloning of a mammal from an adult cell.

The picture was made in the framework of the cooperation between the IEM CAS, the University of Teramo and the Institute of Animal Science Prague. The author is Helena Fulková, PhD from the Department of Cell Nucleus Plasticity IEM CAS. 

The picture shows the transfer of a somatic (body) cell nucleus into an immature oocyte (egg), followed by what is known as 'selective enucleation', during which the nuclear envelope and chromatin of the oocyte germ sac are removed (top image). The method can be used to study the reprogramming of somatic cells, which is independent of DNA replication and can be used, for example, in pre-reprogramming of somatic cell nuclei (lower image).