X-Message-Number: 7953
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 17:34:07 -0800
From:  (Olaf Henny)
Subject: Re:Cloning Procedure (Reply To Robert Ettinger)

In Message #7930 Robert Ettinger wrote:

>3. Olaf Henny (#7913) makes me wonder if I bungled in skimming the news on
>Dolly. Olaf says the offspring was from an egg (sheep B), tickled by an adult
>udder cell nucleus from sheep A, then gestated in sheep C, and that the DNA
>in the udder cell was not expressed or passed on. Am I confused? If the above
>is correct, it would not be cloning at all--just another slight variation of
>parthenogenesis. My understanding was that the udder cell nucleus was the
>sole provider of the genetic material of the offspring--that's what made it
>cloning, use of an adult somatic cell to reproduce its own genotype.

In  Message #7913 I summarized my understanding of the 
procedure used in cloning as follows:
-----------------------------------------------------------
The no doubt significant accomplishment of Ian Wilmut and 
Keith Campbell was, that they managed to 'bully' through 
starvation an egg of sheep A into accepting the cell of an 
udder of sheep B in lieu of a sperm.  The resulting zygote 
was then implanted into the uterus of sheep C and brought to 
term in the usual manner of natural propagation.  The 
accomplishment of these Scottish scientists lay in the 
acceptance of the udder cell in lieu of sperm and complete 
dominance of the DNA of the egg, which was presumably due to 
the inability of a somatic cell to assert its own DNA.
------------------------------------------------------------
This was based on press reports I have read, which are not 
necessarily reliable. I have therefore after Robert Ettinger's 
questioning endeavored to search the net for more pertinent 
information and quickly got mired in a proliferation of 
sensationalized press reports.  I have therefore sent an e-mail 
to Dr. Ian Wilmut requesting an abstract or brief summary of the 
steps taken in the successful cloning through the following 
website:

Roslin Institute
             Current projects: January 1997

Programme 03: 
Developmental and reproductive biology of farm animals 
Programme Coordinator: Prof. Peter Sharp

<http://www.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/library/projects/prog03.html>

If and when I receive a reply, I will definitely post it here.

Olaf Henny

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Quote of the week:
Elvis Stoiko, the eventual winner of the men's World Figure 
Skating Championship after placing fourth in the short program:

"I will not let (the judges) control how I feel" 
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