Principle, merits, demerits of cloning
Answers
Answer:
Principle
Within the host cell, the vector multiplies, producing numerous identical copies not only of itself but also of the gene that it carries. When the host cell divides, copies of the recombinant DNA molecule are passed to the progeny and further vector replication takes place.
Merits
Benefits of cloning include being able to create tissue and organs that doctors can use when needed for surgery on the original. If labs can clone and grow only the parts needed, this would eliminate the moral and ethical issues associated with cloning an entire person. Other benefits include growing stem cells, cloning lab mice genetically engineered for the specific study, bringing back extinct species, reproducing a pet that died and cloning livestock for food.
Demerits
One of the main drawbacks of cloning is that if the original organism has genetic defects, these transfer to the clone as a copy of the original. The first clone, Dolly the sheep, born to a surrogate in 1996, was a genetic copy of a six-year-old sheep. Dolly only lived to six years old herself, the bottom end of a sheep's average life expectancy. At the age of five, she developed arthritis, and the researchers put her to sleep at age six because of tumours in her lungs, which may have been in the genome of the original.