Science Daily — Researchers have found that mouse oocytes that fail to become fertilized during in vitro fertilization are nevertheless often capable of succeeding as “cytoplasmic donors” during a subsequent cloning step using so-called nuclear transfer. Although the implications for human eggs are not yet clear, the findings are of interest because of the ethical and practical concerns surrounding the need for fresh human oocytes for similar nuclear-transfer procedures using human cells. The findings, reported by Teruhiko Wakayama, Sayaka Wakayama, and colleagues at RIKEN Kobe in Japan, appear in the February 20th issue of the journal Current Biology, published by Cell Press.>>> Discuss This Story