Editing Somatic cell nuclear transfer (section)

==Process==
[[File:ECM 2001 Hybridoma System.jpg|thumbnail|BTX ECM 2001 electrofusion generator used for SCNT and Cloning applications]]
The process of somatic cell nuclear transfer involves two different cells. The first being a female gamete, known as the ovum (egg/oocyte). In human SCNT experiments, these eggs are obtained through consenting donors, utilizing ovarian stimulation. The second being a somatic cell, referring to the cells of the human body. Skin cells, fat cells, and liver cells are only a few examples. The genetic material of the donor egg cell is removed and discarded, leaving it 'deprogrammed.' What is left is a somatic cell and an enucleated egg cell. These are then fused by inserting the somatic cell into the 'empty' ovum.<ref name="Pattinson">{{cite journal|last1=Pattinson|first1=Shaun D.|last2=Kind|first2=Vanessa|date=2017-09-12|title=Using a moot to develop students' understanding of human cloning and statutory interpretation|journal=Medical Law International|volume=17|issue=3|pages=111–133|language=en|doi=10.1177/0968533217726350|pmid=28943724|pmc=5598875}}</ref> After being inserted into the egg, the somatic cell nucleus is [[reprogramming|reprogrammed]] by its host egg cell. The ovum, now containing the somatic cell's nucleus, is stimulated with a shock and will begin to divide. The egg is now viable and capable of producing an adult organism containing all necessary genetic information from just one parent. Development will ensue normally and after many mitotic divisions, the single cell forms a [[blastocyst]] (an early stage [[embryo]] with about 100 cells) with an identical genome to the original organism (i.e. a clone).<ref>{{cite journal
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}}</ref> Stem cells can then be obtained by the destruction of this clone embryo for use in therapeutic cloning or in the case of reproductive cloning the clone embryo is implanted into a host mother for further development and brought to term.

Conventional SCNT requires the use of [[micromanipulator]]s, which are expensive machines used to accurately manipulate cells.<ref name=hmc>{{cite journal |last1=Verma |first1=Geetika |last2=Arora |first2=Js |last3=Sethi |first3=Rs |last4=Mukhopadhyay |first4=Cs |last5=Verma |first5=Ramneek |title=Handmade cloning: recent advances, potential and pitfalls |journal=Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology |date=December 2015 |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=43 |doi=10.1186/s40104-015-0043-y|doi-access=free |pmid=26473031 |pmc=4606838 }}</ref> Using the micromanipulator, a scientist makes an opening in the [[zona pellucida]] and sucks out the egg cell's original nucleus using a pipette. They then make another opening to a different pipette to inject the donor nucleus.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wakayama |first1=Sayaka |last2=Mizutani |first2=Eiji |last3=Wakayama |first3=Teruhiko |title=Guide to Techniques in Mouse Development, Part A: Mice, Embryos, and Cells, 2nd Edition |chapter=Production of Cloned Mice from Somatic Cells, ES Cells, and Frozen Bodies |series=Methods in Enzymology |date=2010 |volume=476 |pages=151–169 |doi=10.1016/S0076-6879(10)76009-2|pmid=20691865 |isbn=978-0-12-374775-4 }}</ref> Alternatively, electric energy can be applied to fuse the empty egg cell with a donor cell containing a nucleus.<ref name=hmc/>

An alternative technique called "handmade cloning" was described by Indian scientists in 2001. This technique requires no use of a micromanipulator and has been used for the cloning of several livestock species.<ref name="pmid29620444">{{cite journal |last1=Selokar |first1=Naresh L. |last2=Saini |first2=Monika |last3=Palta |first3=Prabhat |last4=Chauhan |first4=Manmohan S. |last5=Manik |first5=Radhey S. |last6=Singla |first6=Suresh K. |title=Cloning of Buffalo, a Highly Valued Livestock Species of South and Southeast Asia: Any Achievements? |journal=Cellular Reprogramming |date=April 2018 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=89–98 |doi=10.1089/cell.2017.0051 |pmid=29620444}}</ref> Removal of the nucleus can be done chemically, by centrifuge, or with the use of a blade. The empty egg is glued to the donor cell with [[phytohaemagglutinin]], then fused using electricity. (If a blade is used, two fusion steps would be required: the first fusion is between the donor and an empty half-egg, the second between the half-size "demi-embryo" and another empty half-egg.)<ref name=hmc/>