Final answer:
Dolly the sheep was cloned by replacing a donor egg cell's nucleus with a nucleus from an adult Finn-Dorset sheep, leading to Dolly being genetically a Finn-Dorset even though she was carried by a Scottish Blackface surrogate mother. This illustrates that cloning replicates the DNA of the donor nucleus and that cloned organisms have the species and characteristics determined by that genetic material.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cloning of Dolly the Sheep
The cloning of Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, involved removing the nucleus from a donor egg cell and replacing it with a nucleus from an adult cell. This cell was then stimulated to divide and develop into an embryo, which was implanted into a surrogate mother. The genetic principles illustrated by this experiment are:
- The genetic make-up of an organism can be replicated using a non-reproductive cell.
- Cloned organisms have the same nuclear DNA as the individual that provided the donor nucleus, dictating their species and characteristics.
Dolly was a Finn-Dorset sheep because the donor nucleus came from an adult Finn-Dorset sheep. Therefore, despite being carried by a surrogate mother who was a Scottish Blackface sheep, Dolly's genetic identity was dictated by the Finn-Dorset nucleus.