Clone Genetics

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Cloning is the process of manufacturing individuals with identical or virtually identical DNA, either naturally or artificially. Naturally, the clones are produced by many organisms through agamogenesis. Cloning in biotechnology refers to the method of making clones of organisms or copies of cells or DNA fragments.

Define Clone in Biology

The term clone, coined by Herbert J. Webber, springs from the traditional Greek word “κλών klōn”, which means "twig". In botany, the term lusus was traditionally used. In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the 20th century; the last word ‘e’ came into use to point the vowel as a "long o" rather than a "short o". Since the term entered the favoured lexicon during a more general context, the spelling clone has been used exclusively.

Clone, also spelt clon, cell, or organism that's genetically just like the first cell or organism from which it's derived. The word clone originates from the traditional Greek klon, meaning “twig.”

A clone is a group of individuals obtained through progeny or asexual reproduction from a single parent.

Types of Artificial Cloning

There are three different kinds of artificial cloning: Gene cloning produces copies of genes or segments of DNA. Reproductive cloning produces copies of whole animals. Therapeutic cloning produces embryonic stem cells for experiments aimed toward creating tissues to exchange injured or diseased tissues.

1. Gene Cloning: Gene cloning also referred to as DNA cloning, maybe a very different process from reproductive and biomedical cloning. Reproductive and biomedical cloning share many equivalent techniques but are finished with different purposes. Gene cloning is the scientific word for cloning of the genes, where this scientific word indicates, production of a copy of genes or DNA.

2. Reproductive Cloning: In cloning, researchers remove a mature vegetative cell, like a somatic cell, from an animal that they want to repeat. They then transfer the DNA of the donor animal's vegetative cell into an ovum, or oocyte, that has had its DNA-containing nucleus removed.

Researchers can add the DNA from the vegetative cell to the empty egg in two alternative ways. In the first method, they remove the DNA-containing nucleus of the vegetative cell with a needle and inject it into the empty egg. In the second approach, they use an electrical current to fuse the whole vegetative cell with the empty egg. In both processes, the egg is allowed to become an early-stage embryo within the test-tube then is implanted into the womb of a woman animal.

Ultimately, the woman gives birth to an animal that has an equivalent genetic structure because of the animal that donated the vegetative cell. This young animal is mentioned as a clone. Reproductive cloning may require the utilization of a mother to permit the development of the cloned embryo, as was the case for the foremost famous cloned organism, Dolly the sheep.

3. Therapeutic Cloning: Therapeutic cloning involves creating a cloned embryo for the only purpose of manufacturing embryonic stem cells with an equivalent DNA because of the donor cell. These stem cells are often utilized in experiments aimed toward understanding disease and developing new treatments for disease. To date, there's no evidence that human embryos are produced for biomedical cloning.

The richest source of embryonic stem cells is tissue formed during the primary five days after the egg has begun to divide. At this stage of development, called the blastocyst, the embryo consists of a cluster of about 100 cells which will become any cell type. Stem cells are harvested from cloned embryos at this stage of development, resulting in the destruction of the embryo while it is still in the test tube.


Clone genetics helps the livestock breeders to create a genetic copy exactly which helps in the production of healthier breeds. It helps scientists to develop medicines for humans. The cloned animals such as monkeys are used to develop medicine. Cloning is done in various methods that include gene cloning, therapeutic cloning, and reproductive cloning.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Define Clones in Biology. Do Cloned Animals are Considered Identical Clones?

Ans: The individuals that are obtained from asexual reproduction are called clones. 

No. Clones do not always look identical. Although clones share an equivalent genetic material, the environment also plays an enormous role in how an organism seems.

For example, the primary cat to be cloned, named Cc, maybe a female tortoiseshell that appears very different from her mother. The explanation for the difference is that the colour and pattern of the coats of cats can't be attributed exclusively to genes. A biological phenomenon involving the inactivation of the X chromosome in every cell of the feminine cat determines which coat colour genes are switched off and which are switched on. The distribution of X inactivation, which seems to occur randomly, determines the looks of the cat's coat.

2. What is a Clone in Cell Biology?

Ans: A clone is a group of individuals obtained through progeny or asexual reproduction from a single parent.

3. What are Some of the Ethical Issues Related to Cloning?

Ans: Gene cloning could even be a carefully regulated technique that's largely accepted today and used routinely in many labs worldwide. However, both reproductive and biomedical cloning raise important ethical issues, especially as associated with the potential use of those techniques in humans.

Reproductive cloning would present the potential of making a person that's genetically just like another one that has previously existed or who still exists. However, some argue that cloning could help sterile couples fulfil their dream of parenthood. 

Therapeutic cloning, while offering the potential for treating humans affected by disease or injury, would require the destruction of human embryos within the tube. Consequently, opponents argue that using this system to gather embryonic stem cells is wrong, no matter whether such cells are wont to benefit sick or injured people.