Cloning in cattle: from embryo splitting to somatic nuclear transfer

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Reproductive Biology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Genetically identical cattle (clones) are valuable for research and breeding programs.
• Techniques for cattle cloning have evolved, including embryo splitting and embryonic nuclear transfer.
• Variability in results and limitations exist with current methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advancements in cattle cloning techniques.
• To investigate the developmental potential of nuclei from somatic cells (skin and muscle) for bovine nuclear transfer.

Main Methods:

• Review of experimental possibilities in cattle cloning over the past two decades.
• Evaluation of embryonic nuclear transfer, including association with sexing.
• Assessment of the developmental potential of nuclei derived from bovine skin and muscle cells.

Main Results:

• Embryo splitting is a simple technique but limited to producing twins.
• Embryonic nuclear transfer has improved but shows variability based on parent embryos.
• Somatic cells have recently been demonstrated as a viable nucleus source for bovine nuclear transfer.

Conclusions:

• Progress in cattle cloning techniques has been substantial.
• Somatic cell nuclear transfer offers a promising avenue for generating cattle clones.
• Further research is needed to optimize the use of somatic cells for efficient bovine cloning.