What I’ve read is that pluripotent stem cells can’t form a placenta and “cannot develop into an entire organism on their own.” If this is the case then how are cloned animals created using pluripotent stem cells?
In: 0
Cloned animals are not created using pluripotent stem cells (induced or otherwise). Those cells can differentiate into more or less anything but require instructions, from neighbouring cells, hormones, etc. A new organism won’t just grow from these.
For that, you need a fertilized egg cell. If you intend to clone an entire organism, you can take a fertilized egg cell, remove its nucleus, and replace it with one from the animal you’re trying to clone.
Note also that an egg cell is *totipotent*, as another comment also points out. That’s another step above pluripotency and refers to the fact that it (or more accurately, its descendants) can and will differentiate into literally everything. Pluripotency as seen in stem cells has some limits.
Latest Answers