Normally, an egg and sperm join to create a fertilized egg which develops into an embryo and ultimately a newborn animal. In this situation, the progeny receives genetic material from both the mother and father. In the Dolly experiment, a lamb was produced using the technology of somatic cell nuclear transfer. Unlike the normal process of sexual reproduction in which an egg and a sperm each contribute genetic material, somatic cell nuclear transfer is asexual. A somatic cell is any cell except the egg cells or sperm cells.
Somatic cells contain the full complement of chromosomes.
In contrast, an egg or a sperm contains half that number. The result is a cell that contains the nutrient environment of an egg cell and genetic material only from the donated somatic cell. This is not sexual reproduction, since genetic material is derived from only one, not two, individuals. There is no sperm involved. The egg provides only the environment for growth.