Cloning
Applied Science: BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma, topic 5.1.5
Cloning
Clones are genetically identical individuals (copies), produced naturally by asexual reproduction. However, clones can also be made artificially. We can clone:
Plants
- Plants can be cloned using cuttings or tissue culture.
Animals
- Animals can be cloned using embryo transplants and adult cell cloning.
Cloning Plants
Plants can be cloned in two main ways:
Cuttings
- Good parent plants are used by gardeners as a source of cuttings.
- To take a cutting, a branch is cut off from the parent plant. Hormones are then used to encourage the roots to grow and the cutting is then planted.
- Planting cuttings produce clones of the parent plant.
- This allows a large number of plants with favourable characteristics to be produced quickly and cheaply.
Tissue culture
- Small groups of cells are extracted (taken) from a plant and placed in a growth medium (such as a petri dish with plant food in).
- Division of these cells will eventually result in the formation of a clone of the parent plant.
- The advantages of this technique are that it is quick, space-efficient and time-independent.
- This technique is important for commercial use in nurseries and the preservation of rare species.
Test yourself on Cloning
Which of the following are methods of cloning?
Which of the following is NOT a method of cloning?
Plant Cuttings