80 likes | 270 Views
Cloning. by Martin Samaj. What is cloning?. Producing of identical copies of genes, cells or organisms Product = clone Def: A clone is a group of genetically identical organisms or a group of identical cells derived from a single parent cell
E N D
Cloning by Martin Samaj
What is cloning? • Producing of identical copies of genes, cells or organisms • Product = clone • Def: A clone is a group of genetically identical organisms or a group of identical cells derived from a single parent cell • Useful in many areas: reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning
Plants and animal cloning • Plants can be cloned quite easily from their parts (leafs, roots or stem) • Animals cant be cloned in the same way • In animals embryos are divided into several pieces, each piece can develop into a separate animal • Its hard to predict which embryos will develop into which animals and should therefore be cloned • First successful reproductive cloning was dolly the sheep
Types of cloning • Pathogenesis – asexual form of reproduction found in females of some animal species • Reproductive cloning - transfer of a nucleus from a donor adult cell (somatic cell) to an egg that has no nucleus • Molecular cloning – making copies of a defined DNA sequence • Cloning in stem cell research - Somatic cell nuclear transfer can also be used to create a clonal embryo
Therapeutic cloning • Embryonic stem cells can be obtained for medical use • Stem cells can divide and differentiate into any type of human cells • This is useful in replacing organs that a patient has lost or suffered damage
Ethnical issues of cloning • Arguments for: • Embryonic stem cells can be used for therapies • Cells can be removed from embryos that stopped developing • Cells removed at stage when embryos have no nerve cells • Arguments against: • Every human embryo is a potential human being • More embryos may be produced than needed • Danger of embryonic stem cells developing into tumour