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IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF)
THE BEGINNING OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH
AND HUMAN CLONING

1. DONOR EGG - 23 Chromosomes

2. DONOR SPERM

23 Chromosomes from the
Male Donor Sperm
(Cells are called "haploid"
meaning half the chromosomes)

 

3. DONOR SPERM INJECTED INTO EGG
    EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT BEGINS


Using a micro-injector
donor sperm is injected into
the donor egg to fertilize

4. PRO-NUCLEI APPEAR
(Note: Image shown to depict alternate types of human cloning that may occur using IVF)

Cells undergo meiosis:
69 Chromosomes Present In Three Bundles:

(2) Male Pronucleus: 46
(1) Female Pronucleus: 23

Any may be used in pro-nuclei
cloning techniques - see below)

5:  THE ONE-CELLED EMBRYO IS CALLED A ZYGOTE

Male and female pronuclei will merge and
begin cleavage (see below)

46 Chromosomes are present

The beginning of an entirely new human being
with unique DNA, genetic traits; sex is determined

6: EMBRYO BEGINS TO DIVIDE NOTE:  Human cells actually divide 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, etc. Pictures below depict various stages of development Day 2 Day 4 Day 5 Cells are "totipotent", meaning they have the capacity to form any cell, tissue or organ in the human body, including an entirely new embryo, as can occur with "monozygotic twinning".

7: 5-7 DAYS EMBRYO OR "BLASTOCYST" DEPICTED. 
The inner cell mass has formed; typical time to implant in the womb

"Inner mass" of embryonic stem cells present

Most of these cells are totipotent; some are "pluripotent"
meaning they can form most, but not all cells, tissues and organs. 
They cannot form new embryos.

Most cells outside the inner mass are also pluripotent.

The above steps demonstrate how embryos form in IVF procedures.  Using these same pictures, the following steps show how various types of cloning can be accomplished, including twinning or the use of the germ cells, somatic cells or even the pro-nuclei to reproduce a new human being.

SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER - STEP BY STEP IN PICTURES

1) Donor egg nucleus is removed or "enucleated" (PICTURE 1)
2) DNA is removed from the nucleus of any cell containing all 46 chromosomes. (somatic or germ cell)
3) Donor DNA is inserted instead of sperm as shown in IVF  (PICTURE 2)
4) Egg with new DNA inserted is electrically or chemically stimulated to begin embryonic development.
5) Newly formed zygote will follow exact same development as shown in pictures 4-7
6) If the newly produced human being is implanted in the womb and brought to full term, this is called "Reproductive Cloning.
If the newly produced human being is desired only for his/her stem cells, tissues or future organs, the embryo could either be:
    A) Implanted and aborted at the desired gestational period to harvest them  - or -
    B) Destroyed immediately to extract the embryonic stem cells.
A and B are called "Therapeutic Cloning" where the stem cells, tissues or organs would be used in the hope of treatment for disease.

Note:    When somatic cells are used as the nuclear DNA it is known as "somatic cell nuclear transfer" or SCNT
              When germ cells are used it is known as "germ cell nuclear transfer" or GClNT

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• The mitochondrial DNA as shown in the original donor egg is passed into the newly produced clone meaning there will never be an exact genetic match.

• The human pro-nuclei depicted in picture 4 can be individually removed and used as donor DNA molecules in another enucleated human or animal egg - or it can be mixed with another human or animal pronuclei to produced animal/human hybrids.  (PRO-NUCLEI TRANSFER IN PICTURES)

• Though most cells are "pluripotent", the primitive germ line cells in a 2-3 week old embryo become "totipotent" again after prenatal imprinting is erased and can be extracted to produce a newly twinned embryo.  Or they can be used to form special cerl line products such as ovaries, follicles, etc. (GCLNT)

• Those cells in the 2-cell embryo all the way through the blastocyst stage that are totipotent can and frequently are, separated to form new embryos.  These embryos are "twins" of the original, thus producing an endless supply of embryos and stem cells. This is known as "blastomere separation".

• Because many of the cells in the blastocyst are still totipotent, the entire blastocyst can be manually split to produce new embryos.  This is known as "blastocyst splitting".

• Some State bills attempting to ban human cloning are written so poorly that they actually allow the implantation of a newly cloned embryo into a woman's womb for research purposes - as long as the cloned child is not brought to full term.  This means that at any time up through the full 9 mos gestation, the baby can be aborted for the sole purpose of harvesting cells, tissues and organs.

PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS (PGD)

(BETTER KNOWN AS EUGENICS)

 At the 2-4 Day Stage of Embryonic Development, cells can be removed and checked for genetic abnormalities, specific traits or sex selection. If an undesired trait is present or the sex of the baby is not what you wanted, the embryo is destroyed.

Cell Removal & Analysis Using A Micro-manipulator

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Last modified: 02/02/12