You can take an unfertilised egg cell and remove its nucleus in the technique of adult cell cloning.

The nucleus is extracted from an adult body cell (e.g. skin cell) and inserted into the 'empty' egg cell.

So you have replaced one nucleus with another, therefore changed the genome.

The egg cell is stimulated with an electric shock, causing it to divide, which is exactly what happens normal embryonic development.

When the embryo has developed into ball of cells, it is implanted into the womb of an adult female.

The embryo then grows into an identical copy of the original adult body cell and therefore a clone with the identical genetic information - same genome.

The most famous clone is Dolly the sheep, the forerunner of a scientific revolution!

 

Cloning animal cells using selected tissue

Important NOTE:

Tissue culture cannot be used to grow a whole animal, BUT, it can be used to grow cells and tissues for medical research - one way of reducing controversial animal experiment testing e.g. of a new drug - under current UK law, new pharmaceutical products must be tested on whole animals, as well as tested on cultured animal tissues.

Method

A sample of the tissue is selected from an animal, made up of the cells you wish to study and use in your investigations e.g. a type of organ cell tissue's reaction to a new drug.

The cells you want are extracted from the tissue and separated from each other using enzymes.

The separated cells are added to a culture vessel of a growth medium containing all the nutrients that they need to grow and multiply.

After a number of cell divisions the sample can be split and further growth repeated in other vessels.

The cell tissue culture product can then be stored until required for experiments.

Animal tissue culture can be used in medical research to produce large quantities of cells in isolation from the rest of an animals body - no complications from the rest of the organism when conducting tests with them.

Using this animal cell culture technique, the product can be used to investigate the effects on it of chemicals, e.g.

a particular substance such as a toxin or drug,

a change in the environment e.g. pH,

and so monitor the effects of these factors on specific tissue cells without the complications of other types of cells and processes going on in a whole organism.

You can use these cells to conduct experiments e.g. the effect of drugs or any other chemical substances on the specific cells.

e.g. the effect of glucose on pancreatic cells grown in the culture medium.

You can look at the health of cells in different mediums - effectively different environments.

You can infect the cells with a virus to help develop vaccines - the invasive virus multiplies in cells, ultimately destroying them - this initially avoids testing a new vaccine on human beings until later, if results from tissue culture cells prove active against a virus.

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Key points - Summary of ideas

Based on the syllabus-specifications for students taking the AQA, Edexcel and OCR GCSE level biology examinations (~US grades 9-10).

Animal Tissue Culture Techniques for Cloning Adult Animal Cells

Animal tissue culture techniques allow scientists to clone adult animal cells for research, medical applications, and biotechnology.

These methods involve growing and maintaining cells outside the organism in a controlled environment.

1. Adult Cell Cloning (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer - SCNT)

This technique was famously used to clone Dolly the sheep. The process involves:

1. Nucleus Removal – The nucleus is extracted from an unfertilized egg cell.

2. Nucleus Insertion – A nucleus from an adult somatic cell (e.g., skin cell) is inserted into the enucleated egg cell.

3. Electric Shock Stimulation – The egg cell is stimulated to divide, mimicking normal embryonic development.

4. Embryo Cultivation – The embryo develops into a ball of cells.

5. Implantation – The embryo is transferred into a surrogate mother’s womb, where it continues to develop until birth.

2. Tissue Culture for Growing Animal Cells

Tissue culture allows scientists to grow animal cells in a laboratory setting for medical research and drug testing. The steps include:

1. Tissue Selection – A sample of tissue is taken from an animal.

2. Cell Isolation – Enzymes break down the tissue to separate individual cells.

3. Growth Medium Preparation – Cells are placed in a nutrient-rich medium that supports their growth.

4. Cell Division & Multiplication – Cells divide and multiply, forming a tissue culture.

5. Experimental Use – The cultured cells can be used to test drugs, study diseases, or produce proteins.

Applications of Animal Tissue Culture

• Medical Research – Used to study diseases and test new treatments.

• Drug Testing – Reduces the need for animal testing by allowing experiments on cultured cells.

• Genetic Engineering – Helps in modifying cells for therapeutic purposes.

• Cloning & Regenerative Medicine – Used in cloning research and tissue regeneration.

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Summary of learning objectives and key words or phrases

Be able to describe animal tissue culture techniques and cloning adult animal cells from selected tissues,

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