Cloning & Genetic engineering

Question 1

What is nuclear cloning?

Answer 1

Nuclear transfer involves placing the nucleus of a body cell into an egg cell. In Dolly’s case, the nucleus came from an udder cell of an adult sheep.

Question 2

What are some possible uses for animal cloning?

Answer 2

• Mass producing animals with desirable characteristics, such as cows that produce a lot of milk
• Producing animals that have been genetically engineered to provide human products, such as insulin or organs for transplant
• Producing human embryos to supply stem cells for therapy

Question 3

What were the main steps for cloning Dolly the sheep?

Answer 3

• Removing the nucleus from an egg cell
• Putting the nucleus from an udder cell into the egg cell
• Giving the egg cell an electric shock to make it divide
• Implanting the embryo into a surrogate mother sheep (does not need to be related)

Question 4

What are the main steps for plant cloning?

Answer 4

• Choosing a plant that has the desired characteristics
• Removing a large number of small pieces of plant tissue
• Using aseptic technique – keeping everything sterile
• Using a suitable growth medium and warm, moist conditions

Question 5

What is genetic engineering?

Answer 5

Genetic engineering is also called genetic modification or GM. It is not the same as cloning. Although cloning techniques are used in genetic engineering, the two things should not be confused.

Genetic engineering is different to cloning because a unique set of genes are created and can be swapped across species