Twig - Cloning
TWIG. (n.d.). Cloning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www-twig-world-com.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/film/cloning-1064/
Key Terms
- bacteriaany of a group of microscopic single-celled organisms that live in enormous numbers in almost every environment on Earth, from deep-sea vents to deep below Earth’s surface to the digestive tracts of humans.
- clonecell or organism that is genetically identical to the original cell or organism from which it is derived.
- in vitromade to occur in a laboratory vessel or other controlled experimental environment rather than within a living organism or natural setting.
- reproductive cloningthe 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. ( Compare therapeutic cloning; see Dolly.)
- plasmidplasmid, in microbiology, an extrachromosomal genetic element that occurs in many bacterial strains. Plasmids are circular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules that replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome.
Interactive Animation
- Learn Genetics. (2003). Click and clone. Retrieved from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cloning/clickandclone/
Using what you know about somatic cell nuclear transfer, now let's try it! Your mission is to create a genetically identical clone of Mimi, a brown female mouse.
Introduction
"In biology a clone is a group of individual cells or organisms descended from one progenitor. This means that the members of a clone are genetically identical, because cell replication produces identical daughter cells each time. The use of the word clone has been extended to recombinant DNA technology, which has provided scientists with the ability to produce many copies of a single fragment of DNA, such as a gene, creating identical copies that constitute a DNA clone. In practice the procedure is carried out by inserting a DNA fragment into a small DNA molecule and then allowing this molecule to replicate inside a simple living cell such as a bacterium" (Britannica, 2015).
Overview
- Australian Government. (n.d.). Cloning. Retrieved from http://archive.industry.gov.au/Biotechnologyonline.gov.au/human/cloning.html
Cloning is the ability to create an exact copy of a biological entity by means other than the joining of a sperm and an egg. Whether it is DNA, a cell or an organism, it is genetically identical to the original. - Encyclopedia Britannica. (2015). Dolly. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/high/article/470939Dolly, female Finn Dorset sheep that lived from 1996 to 2003, the first clone of an adult mammal, produced by British developmental biologist Ian Wilmut and colleagues of the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, Scotland. The announcement in February 1997 ofIan Wilmut Dolly’s birth marked a milestone in science, dispelling decades of presumption that adult mammals could not be cloned and igniting a debate concerning the many possible uses and misuses of mammalian cloning technology.
- Freudenrich, C. (n.d.). How cloning works. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/cloning.htmOn Jan. 8, 2001, scientists at Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., announced the birth of the first clone of an endangered animal, a baby bull gaur (a large wild ox from India and southeast Asia) named Noah. Although Noah died of an infection unrelated to the procedure, the experiment demonstrated that it is possible to save endangered species through cloning.
Articles Against Cloning
- BBC Bitesize. (n.d.). Use of cloning. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_gateway_pre_2011/living/cloningrev2.shtmlDisadvantage, if a clone is susceptible to disease or changes in environment, then all the clones will be susceptible.
- Hot Topics: Stem Cells, Detroit: Lucent Books, 2012, pp. 62-(76).The fact that several aspects of stem cell research involve cloning has introduced another controversial element into an already contentious field of science. Cloning refers to different processes used to duplicate biological material, such as a cell, tissues, or an entire organism. Most of the time, scientists clone isolated genes and cells to study them in a laboratory or to manufacture medicines. This is not controversial. But when scientists use the cloning technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to create embryos for the purpose of extracting stem cells, it is extremely controversial.
- The Independent. (2009). This procedure can't be ethical until it is proven safe. in Global Issues in Context. doi:CJ198236663The ethics of human cloning centre on whether the technique is medically safe, both for the mother and, more importantly, for the child, because of the risk that cloned embryos may have severe congenital defects and other developmental problems.
- van Gend, D. (2011). Cloning: The Blighted Science. Quadrant Magazine, 55(11), 104-111.
The author discusses the science of cloning. He argues that cloning is a blighted science in ethical and technical sense. He says that the dual desecration of such process has to do with wrongfully destroying a human life for the benefit of others and creating a human life out of any normal human setting. He emphasizes that arguments about the humanity of the embryo do matter in making policy on cloning.
Articles for Cloning
- BBC Bitesize. (n.d.). Use of cloning. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_gateway_pre_2011/living/cloningrev2.shtmlAdvantages, all the new plants are genetically identical – they will all have the desired characteristics.
- Rosen, M. (2013). Story one: Human cloning advance raises personalized medicine hopes: Embryonic stem cells made with nuclear transfer method. Science News, 183(12), 5-6. doi:10.1002/scin.5591831203The article looks at the creation and potential use of human stem cells. It discusses research reported in the May 15, 2013, issue of the journal "Cell" on the successful transfer into an egg cell of the nucleus from a mature cell, noting the technique creates a cell similar to an embryonic stem cell and represents a significant advance in the science of human cloning. Topics include personalized medicine, regulation of embryonic stem cell research, and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.