Eli5 How does cloning animals work?

Question

I saw an article of the black foot ferret being successfully cloned and was just wondering the process of cloning.

In: 2

Answer 1

Cloning is the process of creating an exact genetic copy of an organism. This can be done through asexual reproduction, which is when one organism produces offspring that are genetically identical to itself, or through a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is when the nucleus of a somatic (body) cell is transferred into an egg cell that has had its nucleus removed. In the case of the black-footed ferret, cloning was achieved through somatic cell nuclear transfer. First, scientists collected the skin cells of a black-footed ferret that had been preserved in a zoo since the 1980s. They then isolated the nucleus from the skin cells and transferred it into an egg cell which had had its nucleus removed. This egg cell was then stimulated with an electrical current to start the process of cell division. The resulting embryo was then implanted into a surrogate ferret mother and the baby ferret was born nine weeks later.