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Asexual reproduction
- Plants can make identical copies (clones) of themselves
- Many plants have ways of increasing their numbers by asexual reproduction
- For example a potato plant can produce many tubers, each of which can grow into a new plant
- Artificially produce new plants by taking a cutting, and waiting for the cutting to develop new roots and leaves
The stages of cloning
![broken image](http://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/4936730/346553_538965.png)
In 1996 the first large animal was cloned. It was called Dolly, the sheep. Many attempts had been made before the stages of cloning were properly understood. The stages include:
- Removal of diploid nucleus from a body cell
- Enucleation, or removal, of egg cell
- Insertion of diploid nucleus into enucleated egg cell
- Stimulation of the diploid nucleus to divide by mitosis
How to clone cows using embryo transplants
![broken image](http://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/4936730/770419_129060.png)
Ethical issues about cloning
- Animal cloning raises ethical issues about how far humans should be allowed to interfere in the production of new life
- Regulations currently restrict scientific research into human cloning
Advantages of cloning
- All the new organisms are genetically identical ---> they will all have the desired characteristics
- Organisms that are difficult or slow to breed normally can be reproduced quickly
Disadvantages of cloning
- If a clone is susceptible to disease or changes in environment, then all the clones will be susceptible
- Lead to less variation, and less opportunity to create new varieties in the future
That's the end of today's topic!
![broken image](http://custom-images.strikinglycdn.com/res/hrscywv4p/image/upload/c_limit,fl_lossy,h_9000,w_1200,f_auto,q_auto/4936730/382682_722787.jpg)
Drafted by Yoshi (Biology)
Reference:
1. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mushtak-Al-Ouqaili/post/How-Dolly-Sheep-was-cloned/attachment/5ac78bb0b53d2f63c3c445ff/AS%3A612433211162624%401523026864130/image/Dolly-clone-sheep-1024.gif
2. https://tunza.eco-generation.org/file/Embryo-Transfer-credit-BBC.gif