MadSci Network: Molecular Biology |
I understand the basic principle of Dolly the cloned sheep. However I am curious as to know what the researchers at the Roslin institiute did about extranuclear material e.g. mitochondrial DNA. I know that this does mutate, as it can be used to track lineages eg "African Eve". If they were forced to rely on the mitochondria already present in the Surogate mothers oocytes, does this mean that Dolly is not a true clone? Does it also mean that there is a possibility that the mitochondria are not as viable as "new" mitochondria because of increased somatic mutations?
Secondly, what about the DNA's telomeres? The DNA from the donor ewe was six years old and had presumably divided several times, each time losing some of it's telomeres. Are Dolly's chromosomes shorter than a "normal" sheep's?
Re: Dolly the Cloned Sheep. What about Extra-nuclear genetic Material?
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