Double Trouble
Animal Cloning
KJ's next experiment was one that could possibly change our society, if it succeeded. This was an extremely difficult task and required an extremely precise process. |
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This diagram is an example of animal cloning. The black sheep donates an egg cell for this process. The DNA from the white sheep is implanted into the donor egg cell. Then, the cell is placed in the foster mother and she gives birth to a clone of the white sheep.
Clones are organisms that are exact genetic copies, every aspect of their DNA is the same. This can occur through somatic cell nuclear transfer. This is when a nucleus is transferred from a regular cell to a reproductive cell. Through somatic cell nuclear transfer, DNA can be copied exactly from a mother to an offspring. Cloning is NOT sexual reproduction. Somatic cell nuclear transfer creates an offspring with the exact DNA as the mother, while sexual reproduction creates an offspring different from both the mother and father.
KJ completed a mouse experiment (simulation) in which she tested the somatic cell nuclear transfer. Mimi desperately wanted a friend exactly like her in every aspect, so KJ helped her out. Megdo, a great fellow, provided the egg cell for this extravaganza. Momi was promised fresh parmesan cheese for giving birth to Mimis clone. The nucleus of Megdo's egg cell was taken away and replaced with the nucleus of one of Mimis cells. A substance was added to act like sperm and mimic the process of fertilization to start the eggs cell division. The embryo was placed into Momi and she eventually gave birth to a brown mouse that was an identical clone of Mimi. All three mice were rewarded with lots of cheese and toys for their help in revealing the next big scientific discovery.
Expansion: Although cloning seems unworldly and impossible, there are many cases where scientists have successfully cloned a certain animal. One of these cases includes an adorable kitten named "Copycat". She was cloned through somatic cell nuclear transfer.
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An interesting fact about this is that although Copycat (small cat on right picture) has the same exact genes of her mother (large cat on right picture), her fur is a different color. This occurs because the pattern of colors on cats is determined by events in the womb instead of by genes (1). This experiment was useful because it explained how clones may have the exact same genes as their parent, but they still look different. Making clones such as this are useful because they help us figure out what phenotypes are determined by genes and which are controlled by external sources.
Another researcher used a different aspect of cloning to try to prove a scientific theory. He did not use DNA for cloning but rather tried a very different idea. In his experiment, he took the nucleus of a blastula cell on a frog and insured it a fertilized egg of another frog (2). This was not exactly cloning, but he used this method to test whether nuclei of differentiating cells are or are not differentiated themselves. In this process he created a frog that was a hybrid between the frog that donated the blastula, and its mother.
Although cloning seems extremely interesting it provides to be a highly controversial topic. Many times cloning fails and there is a high risk of a loss of life(3). People believe that this is unethical and we should not be creating clones that are likely to die.
Works cited:
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