How to Clone: The Process

Have you ever wondered how exactly the scientists clone? The process can be long and complicated, requiring much care.

Here is the basic outline of how to clone, in eight simple steps:

1.   Isolate a cell from a donor female.

2.   Take an unfertilized egg from another female.

3.   Remove the nucleus from the egg cell.

4.   Transfer the somatic cell nucleus into the egg cell.

5.   Once you have switched the egg cell nucleus with a different type of nucleus, you need to let the new DNA adjust to the egg cell. The egg cell will have to sit for a couple of hours to let the DNA reprogram so it can act as if it belongs to that egg cell.

6.   Now you have to stimulate the egg cell, so that the egg can begin cell division. You add a drop of a liquid chemical that copies the cellular events that happen when an egg cell is fertilized. Then wait until the cell has divided a few times, creating a ball of sixteen cells. This should take a few hours.

7.   Once the embryo is fully formed, insert it in the surrogate mother.

8.   Now you wait until the baby is born, and you might have a clone!

                    Be warned: There have been many cloning attempts that have not been successful, more than ones that have been successful.

To learn more, visit Click and Clone: http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/clickandclone/