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Nuclear and somatic cell genetic reprogramming has seen a huge improvement during the past 10 years since the cloning of the first mammal, Dolly the sheep. In this chapter we will summarise the advancement in nuclear and cell reprogramming by cell fusion, using amphibian eggs or egg extracts, with cell extracts, with synthetic molecules, or by induced expression of specific genes. The latter method of cell reprogramming represents a novel strategy that could allow the use of the patient΄s own somatic cells for cell therapy, overcoming the incompatibility of heterologous cell transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A million million spermatozoa, All of them alive: Out of their cataclysm but one poor Noah Dare hope to survive. And among that billion minus one Might there have chanced to be Shakespeare, another Newton, a new Donne, But the One was Me. Although biopolymers are more sophisticated than their simpler cousins, such as polythene and rubber, this alone does not give them an obvious reason for existing. Nucleic-acid codes for proteins, some of which contribute to the formation of further nucleic acid, but if these products were free to float away through the surrounding water, no advantage would be gained by the original molecule. The essential extra factor was discovered over 300 years ago. In 1663, using one of the earliest microscopes, Robert Hooke observed that cork has a structure reminiscent of a honeycomb, with pores separated by diaphragms so as to produce a collection of little boxes, which he called cells. Their universality was not appreciated until 1824, when Henri Dutrochet concluded that entire animals and plants are aggregates of cells, arranged according to some definite plan. He also suggested that growth is caused by an increase in either cell size or cell number, or both. The idea of the cell was further elevated in 1838, when Matthias Schleiden proposed that it is the basic structural unit in all organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A definition of the term "Hybridoma" is presented. It is an immortal antibody-producing cell line. It is formed by the fusion of a single antibody-producing B cell and an immortal cell line.

An encyclopedia entry for tetraploid is presented. A tetraploid cell has four times the haploid genome. This exist in a cell that has completed DNA replication but has not yet divided. It can also exist in a cell that has been derived from two diploid cells by cell fusion.