Assisted Reproductive Technology

Question 1

What are considered natures clones? How does this occur?

Answer 1

Identical twins; the embryo splits where you have two different copies with the exact same mitochondrial and nuclear DNA

Question 2

What are the two ways to produce a clone?

Answer 2

Embryo splitting

Nuclear transfer

Question 3

Embryo splitting?

Answer 3

You split the embryo by hand so that each embryo has identical genetics

Question 4

Nuclear transfer?

Answer 4

An embryonic, fetal, and/or somatic nucleus is inserted into a bag of cytoplasm (enucleated cell) to get an active form

Question 5

T/F: nuclear transfer clones are true clones.

Answer 5

F: they do not share the same mitochondrial DNA

Question 6

Who first proposed cloning?

Answer 6

Hans Spemann

Question 7

The first animal successfully cloned was what?

Answer 7

frog

Question 8

Clones before 1996 used what two types of cells?

Answer 8

embryonic; differentiated

Question 9

Of the cell types used in cloning before 1996, which were most successful?

Answer 9

embryonic (before differentiation of cell types occurred) because differentiated cells failed miserably

Question 10

What is the dogma of cloning?

Answer 10

it is biologically impossible to clone mammals by nuclear transplantation

Question 11

What disproved the dogma of cloning?

Answer 11

the cloning of Dolly the sheep by somatic cell nuclear transfer

Question 12

How was Idaho Gem cloned? What species?

Answer 12

mule fetal cells; horse

Question 13

Who is Prometea?

Answer 13

a foal that is genetically identical to its surrogate mother; somatic cell donor where the mother carried her own clone

Question 14

Who is Ralph? Significance?

Answer 14

a cloned rat; a first for the species which is important in research on human diseases including diabetes and hypertension

Question 15

Who is Dewey?

Answer 15

Texas A&M first clone of a deceased white tailed buck

Question 16

Name a few applications for cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Answer 16

1) Replicate farm animals of high genetic merit-agricultural use 2) rescue genetics of endangered or exotic species 3) Clone companion animals 4) research tool for study of embryonic development and loss 5) genetically modify farm animals 6) increase efficiency of producing genetically modified animals

Question 17

What does the US FDA say about cloning agricultural animals for food?

Answer 17

food products derived from animals clones are safe for human consumption

Question 18

100% of clones will be ___.

Answer 18

transgenic

Question 19

What are two ways that transgenic farm animals will benefit human health?

Answer 19

1) new form of farming (pharming) 2) genetically modified farm animals will lead to pharmaceutical proteins and organ donor availabilities

Question 20

What was unique about Polly?

Answer 20

while cells were growing in culture, they inserted a genetic code with a blood clotting factor – biochemists could then use Polly’s milk to study diseases where this blood clotting factor was important

Question 21

How will the use of cows for biopharmaceuticals affect the economy?

Answer 21

leads to greater profits because more specific genes can be coded for that can lead to (for example) greater milk recovery and greater profits

Question 22

How can genetically altered swine provide an answer to the growing organ shortage?

Answer 22

one can alter carbohydrate molecules on pig cells so that human antibodies would not recognize the pig cells as foreign

Question 23

What are the problems of using genetically modified pig organs for humans?

Answer 23

inefficient, death of embryos and fetuses throughout pregnancy, large offspring, death of offspring (all in pigs when altered)

Question 24

What are some of the genetic affects of the clones in the female reproductive tract?

Answer 24

hypoplastic placentas, rudimentary cotyledons, and IVF placentas

Question 25

Hypoplastic placentas lead to what?

Answer 25

retarded fetuses

Question 26

Spontaneous abortions typically occur in which stage of the pregnancy?

Answer 26

second trimester

Question 27

Hydrops?

Answer 27

excessive accumulation of allantoic or amnionic fluid in the uterus during the latter half of gestation

Question 28

What can be done to fix hydrops?

Answer 28

euthanasia; the fetus cannot survive so abort the fetus (the recipient often dies as well)

Question 29

What are a few problems with cloned offspring?

Answer 29

high mortality, large offspring, enlarged umbilicus, hypothermic, hypoxic, lethargic, lung dysmaturity, metabolic disorders, pulmonary hypertension, others

Question 30

What are the risks associated with cloning humans?

Answer 30

inefficiency of procedure; many cases where cloned fetuses die late in pregnancy or immediately following birth; possible death of woman carrying pregnancy; complications with resulting offspring?

Question 31

Therapeutic cloning?

Answer 31

use of cloning procedures to reprogram one’s own cells to generate replacement tissue to correct injuries and/or diseases; avoid concerns with tissue rejection; does not allow cloned embryo to establish a pregnancy (harvest stem cells and use for generating replacement tissues)

Question 32

What is a clone?

Answer 32

a genetic replica of an existing individual

Question 33

Does cloning maintain genetic diversity?

Answer 33

no; but if technology was used to clone the best genetic lines in an individual then used to create new genetic lines, this would allow for maximum genetic diversity

Question 34

Nature’s truest form of clones?

Answer 34

identical twins

Question 35

What is important to note about the process of nuclear transfer?

Answer 35

transfer of nucleus by any somatic cell (body cell) into a bag of oocyte cytoplasm because it was previously an oocyte arrested at Metaphase II (stage that gets fertilized)

Question 36

What is the importance of calcium in nuclear transfer?

Answer 36

something needs to come in and induce calcium oscillation by electrical pulse or expose it to chemicals that will mimic what sperm does to initiate the calcium spike

Question 37

Embryonic cells were used for nuclear transfer before ___.

Answer 37

the trophectoderm and ICM

Question 38

What was the first ever clone of an adult mammal?

Answer 38

Dolly (1/277 attempts)

Question 39

What is the purpose of fetal fibroblasts in transgenics?

Answer 39

they will make the protein product of interest

Question 40

T/F: What can be done in one species is equal to what can be done in other species, including humans.

Answer 40

T

Question 41

___% of clones are lost early on.

Answer 41

90%

Question 42

Name a few placental problems known to occur with clone fetuses?

Answer 42

1) they lack blood vessels in some cases 2) the placenta doesn’t form properly resulting in a retarded fetus because the placenta is not sufficient; fetal cotyledon numbers were extremely decreased

Question 43

T/F: Problems with cloning stop after birth.

Answer 43

False

Question 44

T/F: Incidence of loss is greater in clones.

Answer 44

T

Question 45

Reproductive cloning?

Answer 45

used as a tool to replace an individual which is illegal in humans

Question 46

Difference between reproductive and therapeutic cloning?

Answer 46

therapeutic cloning must destroy the embryo to have its effects (different from reproductive cloning)