Cloning

[Aeron]

I've been reading up on cloning lately, but matric biology is a while ago.

I have a quesiton regarding the subject. Since pictures say a thousand words, have a look at this page.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/genetic-science/cloning2.htm

Frog A is the female since the egg cell came from it. Frog B is the "father" since the nucleus came from it. But the cloned tadpole is identical to Frog B.

Firstly; is this correct? I always thought, for some mysterious reason, that the tadpole would be identical to Frog A because I read something about the egg cell "reprogramming" the nucleus?

Secondly, if you were to repeat the process with humans, for example use the nucleus of a male cell to fertilize the "nucleus-less" egg cell of a female, could you then expect an embryo identical to the male?

I'm really curious about this and would appreciate some responses.

 

[ponder]

Frog A is the female since the egg cell came from it. Frog B is the "father" since the nucleus came from it. But the cloned tadpole is identical to Frog B.

I don't hink you can call the one mother and the other father. The 'egg' would be a fertilised egg (A) and the X/Y chromosones would determine sex but they removed this nucleus. The specialized cell from B implanted into A 'empty egg' would contain the DNA of B wich tells me the tadpole would be a copy of B which could be male or female. From that diagram you cannot deduce the sex of the tadpole or B.

I see it as a chicken egg swapping the yolks as that is the important part, the rest is just a shell.

I did not do biology past std.7 but that is how I understand it. I'm probably speaking through my arse.

 

[Sackboy]

Sounds ponderous to me.;-)

 

[ponder]

Sounds ponderous to me.;-)

 

[Praeses]

The nucleus contains the DNA, all of the genetic information, which determines what the frog will be/look/act like. As ponder explained with the egg, the rest is just the shell. You are what you are because of the DNA in your cells (23 chromosomes from one parent, 23 from the other)

 

[Aeron]

So technically the human child will be an exact copy of the nucleus donor, not the egg donor?

 

[semiautomatix]

So technically the human child will be an exact copy of the nucleus donor, not the egg donor?

Yeah, something like that. The egg's chromosomes are not combined with the nucleus. As ponder said, it's just a shell.

 

[semiautomatix]

The nucleus contains the DNA, all of the genetic information, which determines what the frog will be/look/act like. As ponder explained with the egg, the rest is just the shell. You are what you are because of the DNA in your cells (23 chromosomes from one parent, 23 from the other)

Wait! That's not a frog!

 

[Aeron]

And can you use the nucleus of any cell to create the clone? For example, although red blood cells do not contain nuclei, can you use the nuclei found in other blood cells (lymphocytes for example) to create the clone?

 

[Praeses]

And can you use the nucleus of any cell to create the clone? For example, although red blood cells do not contain nuclei, can you use the nuclei found in other blood cells (lymphocytes for example) to create the clone?

Yup