Biological Cloning

Cloning is a biological term used to make multiple copies of a particular organism by using the asexual method. Cloning can be of different types including bacterial cloning, fission, etc. We can use the process to make multiple copies of a particular gene by using a particular vector i.e., E.coli. The most commonly used biological vectors are plasmids (extrachromosomal structures in bacteria). 

                                     

The first animal was cloned by splitting embryos in a test tube and the resulting embryos were transferred to the womb of adult female mice. Following that, biologists produced several other animals including cows, sheep, cattle, horses, mules, ox, etc.

The nucleus can be transferred to the recipient organism by using two methods. One of the methods involves the removal of the nucleus by injecting a needle and transferring it to another cell. The second method involves the use of electric current to transfer the nucleus from a somatic cell to another emptied of nucleus.  

During the procedure, the gene of interest is incorporated into the DNA of an unfertilized egg which is then fertilized to make a diploid cell or zygote by somatic nuclear transfer. The diploid cell is then allowed to reproduce until they convert into the embryonic stage. The embryo is then introduced to the surrogate mother. After that, the gene of interest is expressed in the milk of sheep. The product can be obtained from the milk. The nucleus can be removed from the somatic cells and transferred to the embryos to produce a clone of the organism. A sheep named dolly was cloned using the same procedure in 1996. 

Cloning is a reliable method to make multiple copies of a specific gene sequence. In bacterial cloning, the gene of interest is introduced in the plasmids of E.coli, plasmids are then introduced into the bacterial cells. The recombinant bacterial cells are reproduced asexually in culture to produce multiple copies of a particular gene of interest. 

Applications of Cloning:

Cloning can be applied for the treatment of many genetic disorders including Diabetes Miletus. Insulin can be produced by bacterial cloning. Apart from that, beta-interferon is one of the drugs for the treatment of several hepatic disorders. Another important application of cloning is that genetical twins can be produced, however, genetical twins can be phenotypically different because of a more important and recent phenomenon termed as epigenetics. 

Animal extinction is one of the most important problem we are encountered with, the population of animals is decreasing and survival of the important components of ecosystem is under threat. So, in such a scenario, cloning helps by increasing the number of endangered animals with the help of asexual method. One of the drawbacks associated with cloning of endangered animals is that their life span is shorter as compared to wild animals reproduced by natural method. 

What is Somatic Nuclear Transfer

Somatic Nuclear Transfer (SNT) is the process to transfer the genetic material from the nucleus of one cell to another cell. The nucleus of one somatic cell is transferred to another cell.

 

There are some controversies regarding human cloning. A scientist, Woo-Suk Huang announced to clone a human, however he did not provide any evidence regarding that. Apart from that, human cloning has some ethical concerns and is prohibited due to some religious and ethical reasons. 

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Written by Sehrish Mehmood (M.phil biology, with specialization in molecular biology) have the capability of creating attention -grabbing and attractive content.