Heidi Ledford (@heidiledford) recently explained the legacy of Dolly the cloned sheep for Nature. Although CRISPR is now the technique of choice for genome editing, researchers still use somatic cell nuclear transfer to clone animals. In this technique, scientists remove the nucleus of an egg cell and replace it with the nucleus of a cell from an individual they want to clone, leading to an embryo. Ledford explains that while the technique is not used for the applications its inventor originally envisioned, it is invaluable in ensuring that complex gene edits are transmitted to a cloned animal. However, future advances in stem cell biology could eventually knock the technique from its prime place in the bioengineer’s toolbox. Photo by London Road via Wikimedia Commons
