Mouse Cloning by Nuclear Transfer

A new mouse cloning method using nuclear injection with a piezo impact drive unit can aid in the bypass of several steps of the original cell fusion procedure. This approach has made it possible to create not only live cloned mice, but also ES cell lines from adult somatic cells via nuclear transfer. It is important to note that these techniques potentially may also be applied to the preservation of genetic material from any mouse strain instead of preserving embryos or gametes. At present, this is the only technique available for the preservation and propagation of valuable genetic resources from mutant mice that are infertile or old, or recovered from carcasses, without the use of germ cells. This technique will greatly help not only in mouse cloning, but also in other forms of micromanipulation such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection into oocytes (ICSI) or embryonic stem (ES) cell injection into blastocysts. Moreover, the piezo unit simplifies pipette preparation, as it allows one to use blunt tipped pipettes without any additional modification.