Biologia

What is a Clone?

A clone is an exact genetic copy of a plant or animal.
Some clones are real “buds.” Clones can be found naturally in nature in single-cell organisms that reproduce asexually
Cloning Plants by Tissue Culture
Tissue culture (often called micro propagation) is a special type of asexual propagation where a very small piece of tissue (shoot apex, leaf section, or even anindividual cell) is excised (cut-out) and placed in sterile (aseptic) culture in a test tube, Petri dish or tissue culture container containing a special culture medium. 
The mammal copiers – advances in cloning
In nature, cloning is common among plants and is used extensively in plant propagation. The offspring produced by cloning (and other methods of asexual reproduction) simply develop from cellsproduced by the parent. Because the offspring have genetic information identical to the parent, they develop very similar characteristics to their parent (and to one another) as they mature. This means that an agriculturalist who grows new plants from pieces of an older plant ensures that the new crop will be a fairly uniform one (Box 1: Propagating plants). In contrast, an individual formed bysexual reproduction develops from a cell produced by the union of two cells, usually from different parents. Offspring produced in this way are not genetically identical to each other or to their parents, unlike offspring formed by asexual methods of reproduction.
How are clones made?
The details section contains all the information you will ever need on cloning and biotechnology. Follow thedevelopment of cloning on the timeline, learn about the various techniques used to create clones, view animations of important processes, and read about the scientists whose accomplishments have made cloning a reality.
The recent cloning developments have created a large scale debate on the morality and ethics of duplicating humans and other creatures. Enter the reactions section to learn aboutcommon cloning misconceptions, views from both sides of the cloning debate, and what the government is doing to prevent human cloning research.
After learning about cloning and related biotechnology, step into our cloning discussions and let your views be known. Or enter our science lab and perform your own cloning experiment on the web. If you feel you are a cloning expert, test your knowledge bytaking our cloning questionnaire.
What are some of the legal issues involved in cloning of humans?
TOKYO (Yomiuri Shimbun) -- A draft bill to ban attempts at cloning beings would
punish offenders with prison sentences and other penalties, Science and
Technology Agency sources said Monday.

The agency, the JusticeMinistry and other relevant authorities are working to
determine how many years lawbreakers should serve in prison. They are likely to
conclude that offenders should be jailed for three to seven years, according to
the sources.

The bill would outlaw attempts to produce human beings who have genes identicalto those of actual persons through methods that dispense with human reproductive
functions. The bill's authors conclude that such attempts represent a blatant
challenge to human dignity.

What are some of the moral and ethical concerns about cloning?
From all appearances Dolly looks like a very ordinary lamb. Yet theextraordinary way she was born has not only has made her the most famous sheep on the planet, but has ignited widespread curiosity, amazement and debate over cloning and genetic technology.
On February 27, 1997, the world learned that Dolly was a clone. Guided by Ian Wilmut and colleagues from the Roslin Institute in Scotland, they announced that they had succeeded in giving birth to a sheep that had...