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7.3 distinguish between gene cloning and whole organism cloning in terms of the processes and products
distinguish between gene cloning and whole organism cloning in terms of the processes and products
- Gene cloning, as described above, involves the production of identical single genes for specific purposes. This will transfer copies of single genes from one organism to another and result in many copies of the gene when those organisms reproduce. Gene cloning introduces new genes into a species such as the insulin producing gene in bacteria. It is also used in gene therapy to treat such diseases as cystic fibrosis.
- Whole organism cloning involves the transfer of the entire DNA in a cell to the cloned organism. Dolly the sheep was cloned by taking the entire DNA from an adult mammary cell and inserting it into an enucleated egg cell from a sheep. The resulting cell is now genetically equivalent to a zygote. This zygote was allowed to reproduce and the resulting embryo was then implanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother.
- Dolly was a clone as she was genetically identical to the entire DNA of the donor sheep via the adult mammary cell. She contained identical chromosomes and consequently identical DNA to all the cells in the parent sheep.
- Plants grown from cuttings are actually clones of the original plant as they contain identical DNA throughout the whole plant. Other asexual means of reproducing identical plants include bulbs, corms, tubers, runners and tissue cultures.