In the context of microbiology, enucleation refers to removing the nucleus of a cell and replacing it with a different nucleus. This is used mainly in cloning but can also be used for creating hybrids of plants or animals. It was discovered that cells can be chemically enucleated with Cytochalasin B in 1967. [1]
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. Most cells are only visible under a microscope. Cells emerged on Earth about 4 billion years ago. All cells are capable of replication, protein synthesis, and motility.
The cell nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, have no nuclei, and a few others including osteoclasts have many. The main structures making up the nucleus are the nuclear envelope, a double membrane that encloses the entire organelle and isolates its contents from the cellular cytoplasm; and the nuclear matrix, a network within the nucleus that adds mechanical support.
Cell biology is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and functioning of organisms. Cell biology is the study of the structural and functional units of cells. Cell biology encompasses both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and has many subtopics which may include the study of cell metabolism, cell communication, cell cycle, biochemistry, and cell composition. The study of cells is performed using several microscopy techniques, cell culture, and cell fractionation. These have allowed for and are currently being used for discoveries and research pertaining to how cells function, ultimately giving insight into understanding larger organisms. Knowing the components of cells and how cells work is fundamental to all biological sciences while also being essential for research in biomedical fields such as cancer, and other diseases. Research in cell biology is interconnected to other fields such as genetics, molecular genetics, molecular biology, medical microbiology, immunology, and cytochemistry.
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. The possibilities of human cloning have raised controversies. These ethical concerns have prompted several nations to pass laws regarding human cloning.
This timeline of biology and organic chemistry captures significant events from before 1600 to the present.
In botany, apomixis is asexual development of seed or embryo without fertilization. However, other definitions include replacement of the seed by a plantlet or replacement of the flower by bulbils.
In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking a denucleated oocyte and implanting a donor nucleus from a somatic (body) cell. It is used in both therapeutic and reproductive cloning. In 1996, Dolly the sheep became famous for being the first successful case of the reproductive cloning of a mammal. In January 2018, a team of scientists in Shanghai announced the successful cloning of two female crab-eating macaques from foetal nuclei.
Erythropoiesis is the process which produces red blood cells (erythrocytes), which is the development from erythropoietic stem cell to mature red blood cell.
Sir John Bertrand Gurdon is a British developmental biologist, best known for his pioneering research in nuclear transplantation and cloning.
Acetabularia is a genus of green algae in the family Polyphysaceae. Typically found in subtropical waters, Acetabularia is a single-celled organism, but gigantic in size and complex in form, making it an excellent model organism for studying cell biology. In form, the mature Acetabularia resembles the round leaves of a nasturtium, is 4 to 10 centimetres tall and has three anatomical parts: a bottom rhizoid that resembles a set of short roots; a long stalk in the middle; and a top umbrella of branches that may fuse into a cap. Unlike other giant unicellular organisms, which are multinucleate, members of this genus possess a single nucleus located in the rhizoid, which allows the cell to regenerate completely if its cap is removed. The caps of two Acetabularia may also be exchanged, even from two different species. In addition, if a piece of the stem is removed, with no access to the nucleus in the rhizoid, this isolated stem piece will also grow a new cap.
A cytoplasmic hybrid is a eukaryotic cell line produced by the fusion of a whole cell with a cytoplast. Cytoplasts are enucleated cells. This enucleation can be effected by simultaneous application of centrifugal force and treatment of the cell with an agent that disrupts the cytoskeleton. A special case of cybrid formation involves the use of rho-zero cells as the whole cell partner in the fusion. Rho-zero cells are cells which have been depleted of their own mitochondrial DNA by prolonged incubation with ethidium bromide, a chemical which inhibits mitochondrial DNA replication. The rho-zero cells do retain mitochondria and can grow in rich culture medium with certain supplements. They do retain their own nuclear genome. A cybrid is then a hybrid cell which mixes the nuclear genes from one cell with the mitochondrial genes from another cell. Using this powerful tool, it makes it possible to dissociate contribution from the mitochondrial genes vs that of the nuclear genes.
Two-hybrid screening is a molecular biology technique used to discover protein–protein interactions (PPIs) and protein–DNA interactions by testing for physical interactions between two proteins or a single protein and a DNA molecule, respectively.
Gene delivery is the process of introducing foreign genetic material, such as DNA or RNA, into host cells. Gene delivery must reach the genome of the host cell to induce gene expression. Successful gene delivery requires the foreign gene delivery to remain stable within the host cell and can either integrate into the genome or replicate independently of it. This requires foreign DNA to be synthesized as part of a vector, which is designed to enter the desired host cell and deliver the transgene to that cell's genome. Vectors utilized as the method for gene delivery can be divided into two categories, recombinant viruses and synthetic vectors.
Blobs are sections of primary visual cortex above and below layer IV where groups of neurons sensitive to color assemble in cylindrical shapes. They were first identified in 1979 by Margaret Wong-Riley when she used a cytochrome oxidase stain, from which they get their name. These areas receive input from koniocellular cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus dLGN and output to the thin stripes of area V2. Interblobs are areas between blobs that receive the same input, but are sensitive to orientation instead of color. They output to the pale and thick stripes of area V2.
Megan and Morag, two domestic sheep, were the first mammals to have been successfully cloned from differentiated cells. They are not to be confused with Dolly the sheep which was the first animal to be successfully cloned from an adult somatic cell or Polly the sheep which was the first cloned and transgenic animal. Megan and Morag, like Dolly and Polly, were cloned at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1995.
Cell fusion is an important cellular process in which several uninucleate cells combine to form a multinucleate cell, known as a syncytium. Cell fusion occurs during differentiation of myoblasts, osteoclasts and trophoblasts, during embryogenesis, and morphogenesis. Cell fusion is a necessary event in the maturation of cells so that they maintain their specific functions throughout growth.
Somatic fusion, also called protoplast fusion, is a type of genetic modification in plants by which two distinct species of plants are fused together to form a new hybrid plant with the characteristics of both, a somatic hybrid. Hybrids have been produced either between different varieties of the same species or between two different species.
Ruppy is the world's first transgenic dog. A cloned beagle, Ruppy and four other beagles produce a fluorescent protein that glows red upon excitation with ultraviolet light. Ruppy was created in 2009 by a group of scientists in South Korea, led by Byeong-Chun Lee. The dog was cloned using viral transfection of fibroblasts cells which expresses the red fluorescent gene. The nucleus of the transfected fibroblast was then inserted into the enucleated oocyte of another dog, leading to generation of dog oocytes expressing the red fluorescent protein. These cloned embryos were then implanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother. It was hoped to use this procedure to investigate the effect of the hormone oestrogen on fertility. The ruppy puppy was then shipped to the north of Croatia where it was thoroughly examined by doctor Lisa Dajci who clarified that the puppy could in fact be classed in the dog species even though it had not been born 100 percent naturally it did still have all the characteristics of the species.
Instrumental analysis is a field of analytical chemistry that investigates analytes using scientific instruments.
Maya is a cloned female arctic wolf that was born from a beagle surrogate mother in China. She was born on June 10, 2022, and news of her birth was revealed to the public on September 19 of the same year at Harbin Polarland, in China's Heilongjiang Province, by the biotechnology company Sinogene.