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A clone is an organism that is genetically identical to the unit or individual from which it was derived. An example on natural cloning in animals is the tiny freshwater cnidarian Hydra which produces offspring by growing buds from its body. This animal can also reproduce sexually and generally animals use asexual reproduction as part of a life cycle in which sexual reproduction also happens. Dolly the sheep is an example of a clone created through genetic engineering.

Dolly was generated from a specialized adult cell. A cell derived from the udder of a sheep in the final stage of pregnancy was used. It was fused with an oocyte ("an immature egg cell of the animal ovary") from a different sheep that was ready to be fertilized. The nucleus of the oocyte had been removed and the plan was to make the donor cell's nucleus silent so that it could be reprogrammed to be an embryo instead of an udder cell.
The resulting embryo which grew up' to be Dolly had all of the chromosomes from the donor udder cell and none of the nuclear chromosomes from the host egg cell. Therefore, Dolly is an exact genetic copy (a clone) of her donor-cell mother.'

Cloning is a highly controversial issue and naturally, there are arguments for and against it. I have come upon the following arguments for cloning:

-Possibility of creating a human repair kit'
-Cloning of endangered species
-It is already happening in nature, why shouldn't we do it?
-Ability to clone genetically modified animals (like cows that can produce lactose-free milk, for lactose intolerant people).

And these, against cloning:

-large percentage of cloning efforts end in failure
-Clones that do survive often have fatal or problem causing issues in their genes
-Cloning will create a black market for stolen or discarded embryos
-Cloning will stop genetic improvements to a species

Bibliography

http://www. questacon.edu.au/html/argument s_against_cloning.html
http://w ww.questacon.edu.au/html/argum ents_for_cloning.html
http://sc ience.education.nih.gov/home2. nsf/Educational+ResourcesTopic sGenetics/BC5086E34E4DBA008525 6CCD006F01CB
http://www.diction ary.com

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