Cloning

• Cloning is the process of making an identical copy of a living organism, such as plants and animals.
• Animals can be cloned through embryo cloning and adult cell cloning.
• Plants can be cloned by making cuttings and artificially “encouraging” the cut plant to form roots.
• Cloning also requires an exact genetic makeup and involves a number of different processes.

Natural and Artificial Cloning

• Cloning can occur naturally, especially in asexual reproduction. An example of naturally occurring cloning is identical twins.
• There are three different types of artificial cloning; gene, reproductive, and therapeutic cloning.

What animals have been cloned?

• In 1979, researchers produced the first genetically identical mice.
• After 276 attempts in 1996, Dolly the Sheep was made which was done through somatic cell nucleic transfer (SCNT). This raised ethical concerns about human cloning.

Cultural and Ethical Perspectives on Cloning

• The media has portrayed cloning in many films within the sci-fi genre and other similar genres.
• Some people find cloning to be harmful.