What is cloning?
- Google definition- The term cloning describes a number of different processes that can be used to produce genetically identical copies of a biological entity. The copied material, which has the same genetic makeup as the original, is referred to as a clone.
- Summary- In simpler terms, it means to make a genetically identical copy of a living organism
Can cloning ever occur in nature?
- The answer is yes. Cloning can, in fact, occur in the wild. Some plants and single-celled organisms (such as bacteria) provide a genetically identical offspring -also known as clones- through a process called asexual reproduction.
What types of cloning are there?
- There are 3 types of artificial cloning:
- Gene Cloning
- Reproductive cloning
- Therapeutic cloning
Definitions for the types of cloning.
- Gene cloning:
- Google definition- Gene cloning is the process in which a gene of interest is located and copied (cloned) out of DNA extracted from an organism. When DNA is extracted from an organism, all of its genes are extracted at one time. This DNA, which contains thousands of different genes.
- Summary- produces copies of genes or segments of DNA.
- Reproductive cloning:
- Google definition- The cloning of organisms with the goal of planting the blastula produced by the technique into the uterus of an adult female and thus creating a new organism.
- Summary- produces copies of whole animals.
- Therapeutic cloning:
- Google definition- The production of embryonic stem cells for use in replacing or repairing damaged tissues or organs, achieved by transferring a diploid nucleus from a body cell into an egg whose nucleus has been removed.
- Summary- produces embryonic stem cells for experiments aimed at creating tissues to replace injured or diseased tissues.
Facts about the types of cloning
- Gene cloning (also known as DNA cloning is a different process from therapeutic and reproductive cloning.
- Therapeutic and reproductive cloning share many of the same techniques but are done for different purposes.
- Gene cloning is thought to be the most "common" type of cloning.
- Sheep is the first mammal to be cloned, Steen Willadsen cloned them in 1984 from early embryonic cells.
- Sheeps Megan and Morag were cloned in June 1995 from differentiated embryonic cells.
- Probably the most famous sheep ever is, Dolly the sheep cloned from a somatic cell in 1996.
