Cloning

= Cloning = Cloning is the artificial replication of somatic cell to make a cell or organism with the same genetic material of the original. This happens naturally in asexual reproduction but humans have been using it for biotechnology work.

Process: Somatic Cell Transfer is the way the cloning process is done. The somatic cell from the organism that is to be cloned is taken and the egg of a similar organism is also taken. First, you must denucleate the egg cell. Then extract the nucleus from the somatic cell and transfer the nucleas of the somatic cell into the remaining egg. Next, the new egg is fused together which activates it to start dividing. After a week of dividing, this blastocyst is put into the womb of the surrogate mother where it further develops. After a full term pregnancy the mother will have the cloned babies.



Materials Needed:

 * somatic cell nucleus- desired DNA to be cloned
 * egg of cell of the same female species- cell used to put somatic cell nucleas in
 * microscope- used to switch the nuclei with precision
 * pipette- used to separate the nucleas from the egg cell and the somatic cell nucleus from the cell
 * micropipette- used to put the somatic cell nuclus into the egg cell

Types of Cloning
Molecular Cloning Cloning of a DNA fragment: Uni-cellular Cloning Stem Cell Cloning and Organism Cloning
 * process of making multiple copies of the same molecule
 * commonly used to amplify DNA fragments of whole genes
 * used to amplify DNA sequences such as promoters, non-coding sequences, randomly fragmented DNA
 * used in genetic fingerprinting to large scale protein
 * to copy DNA the sequence must be linked to an origin of replication
 * 1) fragmentation - breaking apart a strand of DNA
 * 2) ligation - gluing together pieces of DNA in a desired sequence
 * 3) transfection - inserting the newly formed pieces of DNA into cells
 * 4) screening/selection - selecting out the cells that were successfully transfected with the new DNA
 * deriving a population of cells from a single cell
 * very easily done in bacteria and yeast which are unicellular
 * a tissue culture technique is used to clone distinct lineages of cell lines which includes cloning rings
 * a single-cell suspension of cells that have been exposed to a mutagen or drug are diluted to create isolated colonies
 * when there are only a few cells in each colony sterile polystyrene rings, cloning rings, are dipped in grease and placed over each colony
 * trypsin is then added which is a catalyst to promote the dividing of the new cells
 * cloned cells from inside the cloning rings are then collected and put in a new vessel for further growth
 * somatic cell nuclear transfer can be used to use stem cells to create a cloned embryo and organism
 * the purpose of stem cells is not to create a new human but to harvest new stem cells
 * these stem cells can be used to treat diseases like Alzheimers and diabetes
 * organism cloning is used to see if scientists can create an asexual organism that normally reproduces sexually
 * three types of organism cloning
 * horticulture
 * parthenogenesis
 * artificial cloning
 * the process of both these types of cloning is explained above under PROCESS

Word Search Activity
Online Interactive Activity: @http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/clickandclone/

More Cloning Info
What is cloning used for? Cloning on TV

Should human clonging be used?
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