Cloning Flashcards
What is a clone?
An individual that has been produced asexually and is genetically identical to the parent.
How do gardeners produce new plants?
- Remove a small piece of plant, often stem or part of leaf.
- New roots and shoot will form if kept in warm moist conditions.
What is the advantage of taking cuttings?
New plants can be produced quickly and cheaply from old plants.
What might also be used when using the cutting method?
Hormone rooting powder.
What is tissue culture a form of?
Asexual reproduction
What are the advantages and disadvantages of tissue culture?
It is more expensive but plants can be grown very quickly, in little space all year round.
Describe the method used in tissue culture.
- Use a mixture of plant hormone to make a small group of cells from the plant you want to clone.
- Using a different mixture of hormones and conditions, you can stimulate each of these to form a tiny new plant.
What does tissue culture guarantee?
Guarantees you can produce thousands of offspring with the characteristics you want.
Why is animal cloning growing in popularity?
A normal cow can only produce 1 or 2 calves at a time, but using embryo cloning, you best cows can produce many more per year.
How does embryo cloning work?
- Give a top-quality cow fertility hormones so that it produces a lot of eggs.
- Fertilise these using the sperm of a top quality bull. Often done inside the cow then the embryos are gently washed out of her womb.
- Divide each embryo into several individual cells.
- Each cell grows into an identical embryo in the lab.
- Transfer embryo into host mother, who has already been given hormones.
- Identical calves are born.
How are the clones useful?
They can be carried to places where cattle with high milk yields or lots of meat are needed for breeding poor local stock.
What else is embryo cloning used for?
To make identical copies of embryos that have been genetically modified to produce medically useful compounds.
