Cytoplasmic hybrid

A Cybrid, or cytoplasmic hybrid, is a eukaryotic cell line produced by the fusion of a whole cell with a cytoplast. Cytoplasts are enucleated cells. This enucleation can be effected by simultaneous treatment of the cell with an agent that disrupts the cytoskeleton and the application of centrifugal force. A special case of cybrid formation involves the use of rho-zero cells as the whole cell partner in the fusion. Rho zero cells are cells which have been depleted of their own mitochondrial DNA by prolonged incubation with ethidium bromide, a chemical which inhibits mitochondrial DNA replication. The rho zero cells do retain mitochondria and can grow in rich culture medium with certain supplements. They do retain their own nuclear genome. A cybrid is then a hybrid cell which combines the nuclear genome from one source with the mitochondrial genome from another source. Using this powerful tool, it is possible to dissociate the genetic contribution of the mitochondrial genome from that of the nuclear genome.

Cybrids are valuable in mitochondrial research and were used to prove mitochondrial involvement in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other conditions.

When the embryo is 6 days old, the shell is broken and inside the stem cells reprogram into any tissue in the body e.g Brain cells, heart cells or nerve cells. The cybrid is 99.01% human. The rest is cow.