Disclosed herein are methods of generating a recipient cytoplast for nuclear cloning with improved developmental capacity. These methods involve the in vitro maturation of an oocyte from a non-human mammal to the pre-MII stage and treatment of the oocyte with a microtubule-inhibiting agent prior to enucleation. The oocyte used to generate the recipient cytoplast can be obtained from a pre-adult or adult non-human mammal. The methods further provide for utilizing the generated recipient cytoplast for nuclear transfer, such as deriving a nuclear transfer embryo or offspring.