Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2448248 | Livestock Science | 2009 | 4 Pages |
Live rabbits were generated through nuclear transfer using adult cells as nuclear donors. We showed that, in addition to adult cell nuclei, cultured fetal rabbit fibroblasts could support full-term embryonic development following nuclear transfer to enucleated oocytes. Following nuclear transfer, 24.4% (21/86) of resulting embryos developed to the blastocyst stage, and 289 embryos were transferred to oviducts of 11 recipient mothers, resulting in 6 pregnancies. Three mothers carried the pregnancy to term, and three newborn rabbits were subsequently delivered by caesarian, one of which survived for more than 4 months. DNA analyses confirmed that all 3 rabbits were genetically identical to fetal donor cells. This study demonstrated that rabbits could be cloned from fetal fibroblasts, although at a lower frequency than when using adult somatic cells as nuclear donors.