Biology · Reproduction

Dolly, the cloned baby sheep, was created using a somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique. The somatic cell, which is a non-reproductive cell from the parent sheep, provided the genetic material that was used to create an identical copy of the parent. Therefore, the cloned baby sheep Dolly was identical to the parent sheep that donated the somatic cell.

Gave birth to the dolly: The ewe that gave birth to Dolly was the surrogate mother. She carried the cloned embryo to term but did not contribute any of her genetic material to Dolly.

Donated reproductive cells: While an egg cell was used in the cloning process, its nucleus (containing the genetic material) was removed. The genetic material that made Dolly identical to her parent came from the nucleus of the somatic cell, not from a reproductive cell that retained its original nucleus.

Dolly's Cloning Process: Dolly the sheep was the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. Scientists took a somatic cell (any cell other than a sperm or egg cell) from a Finn Dorset ewe and transferred its nucleus into an enucleated egg cell (an egg cell that had its own nucleus removed) from a different ewe (a Scottish Blackface ewe). This reconstructed egg was then stimulated to divide and implanted into a surrogate mother, who gave birth to Dolly.

Both A and B: As explained above, neither the ewe that gave birth to Dolly nor the donor of the enucleated egg cell provided the genetic material that made Dolly identical to her parent.