Successful mammalian cloning employing somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) into unfertilized, metaphase II-arrested (MII) oocytes attests to the cytoplasmic presence of reprogramming factors capable of inducing pluripotency in somatic cell nuclei1-3. However, these poorly defined maternal factors presumably decline sharply after fertilization since cytoplasm of pronuclear stage zygotes is reportedly inactive4, 5. Recent evidence suggests that zygotic cytoplasm, if maintained at metaphase (M-phase) can also support derivation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) following SCNT6-8, albeit at low efficiency. This led to the conclusion that critical oocyte reprogramming factors present in M-phase but not in interphase cytoplasm are “trapped” inside the nucleus during interphase and effectively removed during enucleation9.