What is Cloning?
Things to WONDER about...
1) Does cloning happen naturally? 2) What are the different ways cloning takes place? 3) What's good and not so good about cloning? Cloning isn't just for science fiction tales like the immensely popular Star Wars series. Cloning happens naturally all the time! Cloning is a process where something/someone creates a genetically identical organism. When people start cloning things on purpose, there are some pros and cons, or good and bad things about it. Many scientists are interested in cloning animals and people think that is just a stepping stone to actually cloning humans! What do you think would be good or bad about being able to make identical copies of you or your friends? Plants Clone themselves!Do you remember the movie "Star Wars: Clone Wars? Well, the movie makers had to get that idea from somewhere! Did you know that plants, like strawberry plants, have been cloning themselves for hundreds of thousands of years? Strawberry plants send out vines from the mother plant that grow a genetically identical plant. This way, Strawberry plants can reproduce themselves very efficiently- that means lots of sweet strawberries!
|
How Does Cloning Happen Naturally?
We already have human clones walking among us! Identical twins, or Monozygotic Twins, are a natural form of cloning! The twins were formed when a zygote split during their mother's pregnancy. Instead of getting one child, the parents end up with two genetically identical children! This is why identical twins look alike! Fraternal Twins, or Dizygotic twins, are not clones of one another, because there are two zygotes during pregnancy. Wow! Click here to check out a great webpage on twins- "Twins Don't Share Everything!" "Twinnies" by Eve Bunting is a great book about living with twin sisters, and "Who Cloned the President" is an early reader chapter book. There are lots of great books and videos you can check out on the "Additional Reading" Tab! Watch the episodes of the popular shows: "Kim Possible: Kimitation Nation" and "Too Many Pinkie Pies." These videos are a fun example of the way cloning is normally thought of in fiction. People believe that just because a clone is genetically identical, it will always be physically identical- like twins. However, in the real world the clones we have managed to create with science are not physically identical all the time. You can check out some cloned animals in the Gallery section or go to the Animals, People, and Cloning! Oh My! tab to read about famous cloned animals. Pros and Cons of cloning!
(What are the good and bad things about cloning?) Read the following reasons for or against cloning. Discuss with an adult what you agree or disagree with. Is there anything else you can think of?
|
To read more about the pros and cons of cloning, Parents can read Opposing Viewpoints, listed on the Additional Reading page
Watch this "Super Science" episode on cloning with an adult. What are the different ways that animal cloning is benefitting the human population? What have these scientists been able to accomplish, and what have they been unsuccessful with?