How does reproductive cloning using somatic cell nuclear transfer produce a cloned animal?

Reproductive cloning via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technique that produces a genetic copy of an organism. The process involves the following steps:

• Enucleation: The nucleus is removed from an egg cell, creating an enucleated egg.12
• Nuclear Transfer: The nucleus from a somatic (body) cell of the donor organism is inserted into the enucleated egg.12
• Reprogramming and Activation: Once inside the egg, the somatic nucleus is reprogrammed by cytoplasmic factors to function as a zygote nucleus. The egg is often stimulated with a mild electrical current to trigger cell division.12
• Development and Implantation: The resulting embryo is cultured to the blastocyst stage and then implanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother, where it may develop into a fetus and be carried to term.12

British biologist Ian Wilmut and his team famously used this technique to create Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. It is important to note that SCNT is considered highly inefficient and ethically fraught, as many embryos fail to survive gestation or are born with severe birth defects.342