cloning
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- Key People:
- Steen Willadsen Gordon L. Woods John Gurdon Robert P. Lanza
- Related Topics:
- biotechnology nuclear transfer clone science
What is cloning?
Why is cloning important?
Why is cloning controversial?
cloning, the process of generating a genetically identical copy of a cell or an organism. Cloning happens often in nature—for example, when a cell replicates itself asexually without any genetic alteration or recombination. Prokaryotic organisms (organisms lacking a cell nucleus) such as bacteria create genetically identical duplicates of themselves using binary fission or budding. In eukaryotic organisms (organisms possessing a cell nucleus) such as humans, all the cells that undergo mitosis, such as skin cells and cells lining the gastrointestinal tract, are clones; the only exceptions are gametes (eggs and sperm), which undergo meiosis and genetic recombination. In biomedical research, ...(100 of 2124 words)