Plants can be cloned from cuttings and by tissue culture
Cuttings
Gardeners can take cuttings
from good parent plants and
then plant them to produce
genetically identical copies of
the parent plant
These plants can be produced quickly and cheaply
Tissue Culture
This is where a few plant cells are put in a
growth medium with hormones and they
grow in to new plants clones of the parent
You can make animal clones using embryo transplant
Farmers can produce cloned offspring from their best bull or cow
1. Sperm cells are taken from a prize bull and egg cells from a
prize cow. The sperm are then used to artificially fertilise an egg
cell. The embryo that develops is then split many times before
any cells become specialised
2. These cloned embryos can then be
implanted into lots of other cows where
they grow into baby calves
3. Hundreds of ideal offspring can
be produced every year from the
best bull and cow
Adult cell cloning is another way to make a clone
1. Adult cell cloning involves taking an
unfertilised egg cell and removing its
genetic material
2. A complete set of chromosomes
from an adult body cell (e.g. skin cell) is
inserted into the empty egg cell
3. The egg cell is then stimulated by an electric shock this
makes it divide just like a normal embryo
4. When the embryo is a ball of cells its
implanted into an adult female to grow into a
genetically identical copy of the original adult
body cell
Issues surrounding cloning
You get a reduced gene pool
which means there are fewer
different alleles in a population. If a
population are all closely related
and a new disease appears they
could all be wiped out they may
be no allele to give resistance
The study of animal clones
will lead to greater
development of the embryo
and of ageing and age related
disorders
Cloning could preserve endangered spedcies
The clones may not be as healthy
Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineering uses enzymes to cut an paste its genes
The basic idea is to copy a useful gene from one
organisms characteristic into another
1. A useful gene is cut from one organism chromosome using enzymes
2. Enzymes are then used to cut another
organisms chromosome and then to insert the
useful gene
Scientists use this method to do
all sorts of things e.g to produce
insuline
Genes can be transferred into animals and plants
Genetically modified
crops have had their
genes modified e.g. to
make them resistant to
viruses
Sheep have been
genetically engineered to
produce substances like
drugs in there milk
Genetic disorders like
cystic fibrosis are caused by
faulty genes. Scientists are
trying to insert working
genes into sufferers this is
called gene therapy
Pros and cons of genetic engineering
Pros
GM crops can increase
the yield of a crop making
more food
People living in developing nations
often lack nutrients in their diets
crops could be engineered to
contain the nutrient that is missing
GM crops are already being grown without any problems
Cons
Some people say GM
crops would affect the
weeds and flowers
reducing farmland
boidiversity
Not everyone is convinced GM crops are
safe people are worried they may develop
allergies to the food
A big concern is that the transplanted gene may get out
into the natural environment