Process for reconstructing a non-human mammalian embryo by nuclear transfer using a heat treated donor nucleus and preparaing a non-human mammal

Patent Number: 7064245

One of the issues associated with cloning of animals is that the donor nucleus has to be reprogrammed by the recipient oocyte. Reprogramming involves unraveling of the densely packed DNA chromatin structures which is performed by the oocyte cytoplasmic machinery. In this invention, heat treatment of donor cell or constituents thereof us used to increase the rate of proper reprogramming. The patent contains 1 independent claim which covers, essentially the heat treatment of chromatin from a donor cell (G1 or G0 stage of cell cycle) before introduction into enucleated oocyte in metaphase II for reprogramming. The claim seems to be restricted to mice, cows, sheep, and goats.

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