Cloning animals

Cards (6)

How do animals naturally clone?
a sperm fertilises an egg and the embryo splits producing identical twins or potentially more
What are the 2 methods of artificial cloning for animals?
artificial embryo twinning
Somatic cell nuclear transfer
Recall Artificial embryo twinning process:
An egg and sperm are extracted fertilises and produce an embryo which is then split into single cells which each grow into an embryo which are put into surrogates and produce genetically identical clones
Process of somatic cell nuclear transfer:
The nucleus from a somatic cell from a male is extracted
An unfertilised egg is collected from a female and undergoes enucleation to remove the nucleus produced an enucleated egg
Electrofusion occurs where the nucleus is inserted into the enucleated egg via electroporation
The embryo is then put into a surrogate and produces an identical offspring to the male
What are the arguments for artificially cloning animals?
cloning animals with desirable characteristics
clone genetically modified animals for medicine
harvesting stem cells, growing tissues and organs
What are the arguments against artificially cloning animals?
Ethical concerns on extracting stem cells as you're killing potential life
clones have short lifespans and often have genetic abnormalities
Low success rate - many cloned nuclei fail to develop