Abstract

Somatic cell nuclear transfer is the process of cloning that produced Dolly. In order to clone an animal using somatic cell nuclear transfer, a donor cell is collected from an animal that one wants to clone and placed in a culture with a very low concentration of nutrients. This starves the cell and causes it to stop dividing and causes it to switch off its active genes. Next an egg cell is collected [from a member of the same or compatible species] and the nucleus containing the DNA is removed. The two cells are then placed next to each other in a culture and an electric pulse fuses them together. A second electric pulse-which simulates the spark of fertilization-activates the cell and starts division. After about six days the resulting embryo is placed into a surrogate mother. When the gestation period is completed the clone is born. In this thesis I consider the permissibility of using this techniques to clone non-human animals