Analysis of Developmental Potency of Nuclei
The instances given above and many other observations and experimental results of this nature provide tough support to the hypothesis that within an organism all cells regardless of the type of their separation and functional assignment, are genetically equivalent; that is the nuclei of all of them contain a complete genome similar to that of the zygote nucleus. But are the nuclei of differentiated cells also capable of directing general development and generating of cells of all types like the nucleus of a zygote?
In other words, do the nuclei of cells derived from the zygote keep the totipotency of their nucleus or do they undergo some irreversible functional restrictions in the course of differentiation of cells? The most direct method of seeking an answer to this question includes the make use of the technique of nuclear transplantation in suitably designed experiments.