CLONING 101

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CLONING 101
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• cloning is the creation of an organism that is
  the EXACT genetic copy of another
• Identical twins are natural clones
• Cloning can be done artificially in a laboratory
  by one of two ways
• Artificial embryo twinning
• Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)

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1. Artificial Embryo Twinning

• done in a Petri dish
• Occurs just after fertilization
• Sperm fertilizes egg, forms the one-cell zygote
• When zygote goes to divide into two cells, the
  cells split from one another
• Each cell divides and matures on its own,
  becoming individual twin embryos
• The embryos are genetically identical

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• Done after IVF (in vitro fertilization)
• the egg is fertilized by the sperm directly in
  the Petri dish
• the cells of a very early embryo are split from
  one another manually, so they can continue to
  divide and mature on their own
• the embryos are then placed in a surrogate
  mother.

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2. Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT)

• (AKA How Dolly Was Created)
• There are two types of cells in the body
• somatic (46 chromosomes, all except gametes)
• germ cells (23 chromosomes, egg and sperm)
• http//learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/clonin
  g/clickandclone/

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• STEPS
• isolate somatic cell
• remove its nucleus (genetic info)
• transfer nucleus to an egg that has had its own
  nucleus removed.
• implant in surrogate mother
• resulting organism is an exact clone of that
  which donated the somatic cell nucleus.

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Why clone?

• animal models of (human) disease
• stem cells for research
• pharming large populations of genetically
  engineered animals to produce drugs
• revive endangered/extinct species
• reproduce deceased pets
• yup, you can bring Fluffy back
• any reason to clone humans?
• help infertile couples have children?
• replace a diseased child?
• make a perfect donor?

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Risks of Cloning

• high failure rate
• success rate 0.1-3
• problems later in development
• blood flow and breathing problems
• telomeric differences (chromosome ends shorten as
  we age) leading to premature aging
• abnormal gene expression

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• clones will not necessarily look alike, nor will
  they act alike!!!

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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vdzJx2dl8MA8

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Two Types of Cloning1. Reproductive Cloning

• creates an organism with the same genetic
  material (DNA) as the original organism an
  EXACT COPY of the donor

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• NOT LEGAL (for humans!!!!)

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2. Therapeutic cloning

• used to produce tissue that is identical to the
  donor, to prevent rejection

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ISSUES

• So...
• ethical moral outcomes?
• legal how should this be regulated?
• social how will this affect society?
• Questions to ask yourself
• what are the risks/benefits?
• whom will this hurt/help?
• what does this mean for me and my family? others?

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• Do the benefits of cloning outweigh the costs in
  regards to the uniqueness of human beings?