Cloning

Is a method of producing genetically Identical organisms, with no variation. Clone is an organism that is genetically identical to the unit or individual it was derived from. So Every single bit of DNA looks the same in the two organisms.

History of cloning

The first cloned animals were cloned by Hans Driesch. However his target was to prove that genetic material is not lost during cell division, not to clone an organism. A female sheep cloned in 5 July 1996 by IAN wilmut in Scotland. Wilmut used cloning method, known as "somatic cell nuclear transfer. The cell used as the donor for the cloning of Dolly was taken from a mammary gland, which produced a healthy clone. Therefore science proved that a cell taken from a specific part of the body could recreate a whole individual.

Dolly:

Natural cloning
Cloning occur normally in bacteria whose members arose from a single original cell. identical twins (from the same egg) are a great example of cloning. Cloning naturally occurs in some animals such as insects and frogs in a process called parthenogenesis, This is where an egg develops without fertilisation. (the egg would grow into a baby without needing any sperm). plants are self-pollinated.

Types of artificial cloning

Molecular Cloning (gene cloning):

Molecular cloning is making identical copies of DNA molecules.

Gene cloning produces copies of genes or segments of DNA.

Scientists thought that once a cell had differentiated to become, say, a skin cell, it could not change into anything else. DNA inside any particular cell had been chemically 'programmed, to perform its specific tasks. But after Dolly the sheep, They found a way to 'reprogram' the DNA of an adult cell so that it could start again from scratch. (because DNA contains 60% protein)

2. Organism Cloning (reproductive cloning):

Organism cloning involves making an identical copy of another organism. Reproductive cloning produces copies of whole organism.

3. Therapeutic Cloning:
Therapeutic cloning involves the cloning of human embryos for the production of new cells. Therapeutic cloning produces embryonic stem cells for experiments aimed at creating tissues to replace injured or diseased tissues.

Process & technology

1. Transgenic species:
Transfer one or more genes from one species to another species ( by genetic engineering).
Identify the useful gene and its chromosome. fragmentation isolate (cut out) apart of the DNA strand. ligation - gluing pieces of DNA together in a specific sequence, to ensure the gene will work. transfection - inserting the gene into the other cells. selection - selecting the cells that were successfully transected with the new DNA.

Example: inserting insulin into bacteria produce it into the patient body. Strawberries with a salmon gene, which can grow in winter.

2.Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) :

The most common technology. A somatic cell is any cell from the body, which carry DNA. ( except the sex cells, because it didnt contains the complete DNA the genetic blue print ). Once the somatic cell is collected from the animal to be cloned its called the genetic donor. How does it occur:
Scientist isolate the egg from the egg donor. And the somatic cell from the other parent. extracts the nucleus of the egg cell, so it doesnt have DNA. Then they inserts the somatic cell into the egg. (The somatic cell is smaller than the egg). thy put the somatic cell into "electric pulse. To fuse the somatic cell. The egg implanted in the mother, forming an embryo. The result is fused egg contains the genetic donor's DNA. The offspring (clone) receive the hole chromosomes from the somatic cell donor.

3. Artificial embryo twinning

this technology mimics the natural process of creating identical twins. Twinning occur naturally just after fertilization of an egg cell by a sperm cell. However artificial embryo twinning occur manually.

Methodology:
1. 2. 3. separating a very early embryo into individual cells, and then allowing each cell to divide and develop on its own. The separating embryo are placed into a surrogate mother, where they are delivered. The resulting embryos are genetically identical, because they came from the same zygote.

- She died at the age of ten in a horrific car crash. But now the little brought back to life by controversial fertility expert Panayiotis Zavos, who froze some of her blood cells after her death in August 2002, and combined them with cow eggs to create a human-animal hybrid embryo. - Cady's mother said she was happy for the cells to be implanted in a human womb if there was a chance of a clone of her child being born.

Dr. panayiotis zavos

Calls to jail doctor who cloned dead girl Cady's blood
By Daily Mail Reporter( British national daily newspaper) UPDATED:23:32 GMT, 22 April 2009

CADY, THE LITTLE GIRL KILLED IN 2002 CAR CRASH WHO COULD 'LIVE' AGAIN AS A CLONE

Ethical issues
Personal believes and religion: A clone would not be a normal human. Also some people think that scientists play with nature, which God has created. Relationships and Individual rights: A man can't get single identity or be special anymore. In addition to the animals rights ( against using animals for experiments). Also no one can guarantee that the child born due to cloning would be a healthy one. Illegal Cloning: hard to differentiate the clone from the real person. These ethical issues doesnt allow the cloning process to happened in a wide range. As some scientists think it should be. Cloning isnt always successful, the cloned species didnt always look the same. ( because of some environmental effects)

By: Veronya Habshi