Animal Cloning

We are not on Old Mc Donald’s farm anymore. As the population grows, so does the need for meat. The new and advanced solution is animal cloning. Cloning is the creation of an organism that is an exact genetic copy of another. This means that every single bit of DNA is the same between the two. There are two different kinds of cloning: somatic cell nuclear transfer and artificial embryo twinning. One of the reasons that cloning is attractive is that it reduces the effort and time needed for farmers to do what they have been doing for years: selecting and propagating the best of the herd (Limson 1).

In somatic cell nuclear transfer, first a somatic (udder) cell containing a complete set of chromosomes pairs (diploids)is isolated from the animal. Next the cell is cultured in a media that causes it to lose its identity as an “udder” cell. Then an egg cell is isolated from another animal. The nucleus, where the DNA is kept, is removed and both egg cells are then fused together using an electric pulse. The nucleus from the somatic cell, containing a full set of chromosomes, is transferred to the egg cell. The egg cell is then implanted in a surrogate mother forming an embryo. It is then carried to full term. Because the offspring received all of its chromosomes from the somatic cell, it is the exact clone of the somatic cell donor(Limson 1).

Artificial embryo twinning begins with extracting a very early embryo. It then manually separates the embryo into individual cells, placing them into a Petri Dish, and in doing so, allows each cell to divide and develop on its own. The resulting embryos are placed into a surrogate mother, where they are carried to term and delivered. Since all the embryos came from the same zygote, they are genetically identical (Limson 1).

Cloning in Agriculture could be used in many different ways. As stated above, farmers and ranchers alike are always looking to “cut corners,” and cloning could make that very possible. It...