Mouse cloned from embryonic stem (ES) cells synchronized in metaphase with nocodazole

Full-term development occurred when nuclei from mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, synchronized in metaphase with nocodazole, were fused with enucleated oocytes or nuclei of reconstituted eggs and again fused with the enucleated blastomeres of fertilized two-cell embryos using inactivated Sendai virus. Two surviving male mice were derived from undifferentiated ES cell nuclei, one from single nuclear transfer and another from serial nuclear transfer. Both were noticeably small and died within 24 hr of birth for unknown reasons. These findings demonstrate that nuclear transfer of ES cells using the fusion method produces young, as does the piezoelectric-actuated nuclear transfer. J. Exp. Zool. 289:139-145, 2001.