biotechnology
Changes the world with cloning
CLONING
Cloning technology allows us to generate a population of identical cells, plants or animals. Its applications are extraordinarily broad and extend into many research and product areas. Any legislative or regulatory action directed at“cloning” must take great care in defining the term precisely so that the intended activities and products are covered while others are not inadvertently captured
MOLECULAR GENE CLONING
Molecular or gene cloning, the process of creating identical DNA molecules, provides the foundation ofthe molecular biology revolution and is a fundamental tool ofbiotechnology. Virtually all applications in biotechnology, fromdrug discovery and development to the production of transgeniccrops, depend on gene cloning.
The research findings made possible through molecular cloninginclude identifying, localizing and characterizing genes; creatinggenetic maps and sequencing entire genomes; associating geneswith traits and determining the molecular basis of these traits.
The research findings made possible through molecular cloninginclude identifying, localizing and characterizing genes; creatinggenetic maps and sequencing entire genomes; associating geneswith traits and determining the molecular basis of these traits.
ANIMAL CLONING
Animal cloning has been rapidly improving livestock herdsfor more than two decades and has been an important tool forscientific researchers since the 1950s. Although the 1997 debutof Dolly the cloned sheep was a worldwide media event, animalcloning was not altogether new. Dolly was considered a scien-tific breakthrough not because she was a clone, but because thesource of the genetic material used to produce Dolly was anadult cell, not an embryonic one.
There are, in fact, two ways to make an exact genetic copy of anorganism such as a sheep or a laboratory mouse:
There are, in fact, two ways to make an exact genetic copy of anorganism such as a sheep or a laboratory mouse:
HISTORY
Cloning of plants (such as growing a plant from a cutting) has been a common practice of mankind for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. Even cloning of small animals has a long history dated back to the 1960's. However, human cloning had not been thought possible until the successful cloning of the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, in 1997. The birth of Dolly is a major scientific and technological breakthrough. However, it also raised the possibility that one day humans will be cloned, as well as many medical and ethical issues and concerns associated with this possibility. Following the cloning of Dolly, many other animals, including cows and mice, have been successfully cloned. Though Clonaid, a human cloning company founded by the religious movement group Raelian, claimed that a clone human baby was born in December 2002, no human cloning has been scientifically confirmed thus far.