Cloning

Clone

An organism that is a genetically identical copy of another organism

Tissue culture

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Small groups of plant cells that can be used to grow identical new plants, important for the preservation of rare species or commercial use in nurseries

Plant cuttings

An older method used by gardeners to produce many identical new plants from a parent plant

Embryo transplants

Splitting cells apart from a developing animal embryo before they become specialised, then transplanting the identical embryos into host mothers

Adult cell cloning

A method of cloning that involves combining an unfertilised egg cell with the nucleus of an adult body cell, using electrical stimulation

Nuclear extraction

The first stage of adult cell cloning is to remove the nucleus from a donor organism's unfertilised egg cell

Donor organism

Unfertilised egg cells are harvested from an organism of the same or similar species as the desired organism to be cloned

Enucleated egg cell

An unfertilised egg cell without a nucleus

Body cell nuclear transfer

The nucleus of an adult body cell is extracted from the desired organism to be cloned and is later inserted into the enucleated egg cell

Adult body cell

A differentiated cell from an adult organism such as a skin cell or nerve cell, that is not involved in reproduction

Electric shock stage

Following the fusion of the body cell nucleus and enucleated egg cell, an electric shock stimulates the egg cell to divide to form an embryo

Products of adult cell cloning

The embryo cells that have been electrically shocked now contain the same genetic information as the original adult body cell, the embryo is officially a clone

Embryo development

When the cloned embryo has developed into a ball of cells it is inserted into the womb of an adult female to continue development

Surrogate mother

An organism that is volunteered to carry the developing cloned embryo, usually the same or similar species as the embryo

Benefits and advantages of cloning

Can be used to produce many organisms, can help achieve food security, can conserve endangered species and can potentially be used to bring species back from extinction

Risks and disadvantages of cloning

If many organisms are cloned they would be susceptible to the same diseases, low success rates, risk of complications, considered unethical and could be prone to misuse