Is it possible to create a 3way hybird animal? (cloning)?

Question

u can mix 2 animals together, but can u mix 3 or more?

Answer 1

You cannot mix 2 animals together by cloning.

The process you might be thinking of has been referred to as the creation of "hybrid" embryos - but that isn't really what is happening. Instead, it is a modification of the "normal" cloning process to create human embryonic stem cells with (hopefully) less controversy.

The process for cloning is called "Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer" (SCNT). It involves taking the nucleus from a normal body cell (a somatic cell) of an animal, and taking a fertilised egg from the same species of animal. You remove the nucleus from the egg, and transfer the nucleus from the somatic cell into it. You then implant this cell into the uterus of a female of that same species. Since the nucleus was taken from an adult organism, and the egg has no genetic material from the original "parents", the egg (hopefully) develops into an animal that is genetically identical to the nucleus donor.

In the "hybrid" version, you take the nucleus from a human, and transplant it into the egg of another species of animal. You let the embryo (a genetic clone of the human donor) develop to the 4-6 day stage, and then harvest the cells for embryonic stem cells. There is no genetic material from the egg-donor, so it is not a hybrid between the two.

The idea is to provide a source for ES cells without having to use a fertilised human embryo, with the potential for future life.