Cloning

Web Lesson: Cloning in Focus
Genetic Science Learning Center
http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/

Open the link and view each of the sections under "Cloning in Focus". For each section, answer the question.

What is Cloning?

1. Who is Dolly?
A sheep that was cloned using a somatic cell's nucleus from an adult sheep and using it to replace the nucleus of an egg cell. It made the egg behave like a freshly formed zygote and the result was an exact replica of the adult sheep the somatic cell was taken from.

2. When a zygote divides into to separate cells, it is called:
natural twinning

3. Somatic cells are also called:
diploid cells

4. In order to clone a gene, a gene is inserted into a _________________________
plasmid, which then is inserted into a bacteria population

5. In order to create an embryo from a somatic cell, the donor egg cell must have its ___________________ removed.
nucleus, as with creating Dolly the sheep


Click and Clone

6. List all the materials needed to clone a mouse.
a mouse to clone
a mouse to donate an egg
a mouse to grow the clone
microscope
petri dishes
sharp pipette
blunt pipette
chemical to stimulate cell division

7. Place the following steps in the correct order.

4: Stimulate cell division
6: Deliver baby
2: Remove and discard the nucleus from the egg cell
1: Isolate donor cells from egg donor and germ cell donor
3: Transfer the somatic cell nucleus into the egg cell
5: Implant embryo into a surrogate mother

8. There are two time gaps in the process of cloning. What are they? (ie. what do you have to wait for?)
The first time is for the DNA to "reboot" or "reprogram" itself so that it will behave as though it is the DNA of an egg cell
The second time is for the cells to divide and create a morula, or ball of cells

9. What color with the cloned mouse be?
Brown
What is the name of this mouse?
Mini-Mimi

Why Clone?

10. Why is cloning extinct animals problematic?
To clone them you would need a preserved source of DNA from the extinct animal, and a close match of species to provide a surrogate mother. For instance, elephants and woolly mammoths.

11. What are some reasons a person might want to clone a human?
To help couples that are infertile to have children, and to replace deceased family members.

The Clone Zone

12. What animal was cloned in 1885?
a sea urchin

13. How did Spemann separate the two cells of the embryo of a salamander in 1902?
by forming a noose made of baby hair and splitting an early salamander embryo with it

14. The process of removing a nucleus is called
enucleation

15. In 1952, the nucleus of a tadpole embryo cell was placed into a donor cell. Did it work to clone the animal?
Yes, it worked, but usually much better with the earlier embryos.

16. Can the nucleus of an adult cell be injected into an egg cell and produce a clone?
Yes, it works perfectly fine, but the clone must grow starting as a baby

17. Why are mammals hard to clone?
Their eggs are smaller

18. What were the names of the first two cloned cows?
Fusion and Copy

19. In what year was the National Bioethics Advisory Council formed?
1995

20. The first mammal clone to be produced from an adult (somatic) cell?
Dolly the sheep

21. What do scientists do to adult cells to make them "behave" like embryos?
They must "reboot" the cells to make them behave as embryos. Wilmut and Campbell did this with an electric shock technique, but others later injected the nucleus directly into the cell.

22. Transgenic, cloned sheep were used to produce what medical protein?
Factor IX, a blood-clotting protein used to treat hemophilia

23. What is a stem cell?
cells that can become any cell needed in the human body

Cloning Myths

24. Briefly describe in your own words, why CC the cat was not identical in color to Rainbow, even though she was a clone.
Early in Rainbow's life, her genetic patterns were determined by each gene turning off information randomly from one X-chromosome. CC's weren't changed like Rainbow's were, so she looks different.

25. What is "nature vs nurture"?
Nature is the genetic patterns and orders within our body. Nurture is the way they are changed by the processes we go through along life. Many people think one is dominant over the other.

Is it Cloning or Not?

26. For each of the following scenarios, indicate YES (it is cloning) or NO (it is not cloning)

NO, Sperm taken from a mole goat is combined with a female's egg in a petri dish. The resulting embryo is implanted into the female's uterus to develop
YES, A sheep embryo, composed of 16 cells, is removed from the mother's uterus and separated into indivudal cells. Each cell is allowed to multiply, creating 16 separate embryos, which are then implanted in different female sheep to develop to maturity.
NO, A cow with many desirable traits is stimulated with hormones to produce a number of egg cells. Each of these eggs is fertilized and implanted into a surrogate mother.
NO, In vitro fertilization
YES, Cell nuclei from an extinct wolly mammoth are placed into enucleated cow cells.


27. Define or describe each of the following processes (you may need to reset the Cloning or Not Screen)

Invitro fertilization
The process of fertilizing an egg in a vitro solution, then placing it in a surrogate mother.

Embryo splitting
A process in which you split the cells of a small embryo apart from one another and letting them grow individually into identical organisms.

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
A process in which the nuclei of egg cells are discarded and adult somatic nuclei fill their place. The now "fertilized" eggs multiply into embryos and are placed in a surrogate mother.

Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer
An organism with desired traits is stimulated with hormones to produce many eggs. Then the eggs are placed in surrrogate mothers with undesired traits to develop.

Artificial Insemination
Germ cells from an organism with desired traits are used to fertilize or be fertilized by different organisms' germ cells.


What Are the Risks of Cloning?
28. What is one reason why cloning animals has such a high failure rate?
The egg that was enucleated might not be compatible with the nucleus implanted in it.

29. What is a telomere and how does it affect cloned animals?
A telomere is the DNA sequence on each end of the chromosomes. In clones, they seem to be either longer or shorter than normal, changing the life span of the clones.

What Are Some Issues in Cloning?
30. Pick one of the questions to ponder and ....ponder it. Write a brief essay on your thoughts and opinions.

■What are some of the social challenges a cloned child might face?

A cloned child could be looked upon with many different opinions. Some may feel in awe of the child because they are so different and unique, while others may look upon them as not even being a real person. A cloned child could face being ridiculed every day, expectations they cannot live up to, and hatred from peers. On the other hand, they could also become well-known, liked, and followed by many of their peers because of their unique creation.
Personally, if I was a cloned child, I feel as though I would hate it. I would be different, and probably an outcast because I wasn't quite normal.