CloningBiology I

Cloning Defined A clone is an organism that is genetically IDENTICAL

to another organism

Can you think of a natural way that a clone may be formed?

“Identical” twins have the exact same genetic make-up so technically they are clones

What is artificial embryo twinning?

This is how identical twins are formed only the process takes place in a petri dish by a scientist...a fertilized egg (zygote) is split into two separate embryos very early in development

How is Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer different?

How do you make a clone? (SCNT) 1. Isolate a somatic cell from one donor and an egg cell from

another donor

2. Enucleate the egg cell...what does enucleate mean?

Enucleate means to remove the nucleus from the egg cell

3. Transfer the nucleus of the somatic cell into the enucleated egg cell...why?

So that the clone will have a complete set of genetic material

4. Chemically stimulate the new cell to divide until it becomes a morula...What is a morula?

Morula = Solid ball of cells that results from mitosis

5. Implant the morula into a surrogate mother...what is a surrogate?

Surrogate = someone that carries the embryo and gives birth to the offspring but is not genetically related to the offspring

Dolly the clone and her daughter Polly

Identical Copy? Two reasons why a clone might not necessarily be a carbon

copy of the donor organism

1. Clone is not the same age as the current individual that has been cloned. You cannot clone yourself and end up with a 15/16 year old you!

2. Nature vs. Nurture-in order to be true clones both individuals would have to grow up in the exact same environment and have all the same experiences. Environment can affect personality and physical appearance in organisms.

These plants have the exact same genes for flower colorbut they are growing in soils with different acidity so the flower color is affected.

Reasons to Consider Cloning For medical purposes

Produce animals with genetic mutations that allow researchers to test treatments, or learn more about the disease

Creating stem cells to be used in research

Bringing back endangered or extinct species

Reproducing a deceased pet

This woman paid $50,000 to haveher dog cloned by a South KoreanCompany two years ago.

Risks of Cloning

High rate of failure-there were 277 attempts to clone a sheep before Dolly was born.

Some organisms have shown problems during later development LOS (Large Offspring Syndrome)-can

lead to breathing and blood flow problems

Impaired Immune system, kidney or brain malformations