On February 24, 1997 Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland announced that scientists had cloned an adult mammal for the first time. These researchers removed a nucleus from a mammary gland of a sheep and implanted the nucleus into a sheep's egg with the egg's nucleus already removed. This embryo was then inserted into a surrogate sheep's uterus. This procedure is called somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning. This process could have a great impact in medical and agricultural applications.

There are many different experimental procedures for cloning. Blastomere separation is the equivalent of chemically induced identical twins. A two- to eight-cell embryo is taken and outer coating removed. The cells are then separated by solution and cultured into an embryo, then inserted into a uterus. Blastocyst division is also known as induced twinning. A blastocyst, an advanced stage of a blastomere, is mechanically split into two separate embryos. Each part can then be implanted into the uterus. Nuclear transplantation is a more generic form of what the Scottish researchers did. Nuclear transplantation uses a blastomere and enucleated egg, egg cell without a nucleus. A nucleus fr

om one of the blastomere cells is transferred to the enucleated egg and then implanted into a uterus. The difference between the Scottish researchers' method, somatic cell nuclear transfer, and nuclear transplantation is the age of the cell that is to be cloned. The Scottish researchers used a cell from an adult sheep and nuclear transplantation uses a nucleus from a two to eight cell embryo, a blastomere.

This article gives clearly states background information on the current cloning technology. The article is divided into six sections. Each section is clearly labeled to what it is about. From explaining the procedure of the Scottish researcher to giving the success rate of the implanted eggs, the background information has many different facts both in favor of and opposed to cloning. One thing that seems fairly consistent is the author's desire to continue research to improve its procedures. The next section clearly defines three different techniques for cloning and compares how the researchers from the Roslin Institute and another form of cloning. Yet another section describes possible practical uses for cloning and how they can be accomplished. An off section is President Clinton's remarks c

Some common words found in the essay are:
Edinburgh Scotland, President Clinton, President Clinton's, Roslin Institute, nuclear transplantation, Government February, cell nuclear transfer, vitro fertilization, somatic cell nuclear, privately funded, somatic cell, background information, embryo inserted, nuclear transfer, cell nuclear, implanted uterus, scottish researchers,
Approximate Word count = 818
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)