10.

5 - Whole organism cloning in animals

Activity 1: Complete this interactive simulation to learn how we can clone animals using a technique
called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

@
Click and Clone - by Genetic Science Learning Centre (2014)
www.blitzingbiology.com.au/linksmodule6 link 10.5.1

Activity 2: Fill in the blanks

• cell • cloned • contributed • division • donor • enucleated • fuse • genetic

• hormones • nucleus • removed • SCNT • somatic • surrogate • transfer

Animals can be cloned using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer
(SCNT). In this process, a donor cell is taken from the individual to be cloned.
The nucleus of this somatic cell contains all of the genetic information for that individual. This
somatic nucleus is transferred into a donor egg cell that has had its own nucleus removed. This
enucleated egg cell is referred to as an enucleated egg. Electricity is often used to help transfer
the enucleated donor egg cell and the somatic cell together, allowing the somatic nucleus to fuse
into the egg cell. Once the somatic nucleus is inside the somatic egg cell, specific chemicals are
used to help stimulate mitosis (cell division). After several cell divisions, the growing embryo is
inserted into the uterus of a surrogate mother to continue development. The surrogate mother
will need to be given hormones to help maintain the pregnancy. The resulting organism is a clone
of the organism that contributed the nucleus.

Activity 3: Mix & match - match each term to its description.

Somatic cell An individual that has identical DNA to another individual.

Any cell in the body other than gametes (sperm/egg). This cell
Nucleus
is diploid, meaning it has two copies of each chromosome.

Enucleated A female whose uterus is used to grow an inserted embryo that

egg cell is not biologically her own offspring.

An organelle within eukaryotic cells that contains the

Clone
chromosomes, and hence the DNA, of an individual.

Surrogate
A female gamete that has had its haploid nucleus removed.
mother

© Blitzing Publications 159 Module 6: Genetic Change

 egg donor

somatic cell
isolate donor cells donor

remove and
discard the
nucleus from
the egg cell
transfer somatic cell nucleus
into enucleated egg cell

stimulate cell
division

surrogate
mother deliver clone

implant embyro
into surrogate
mother
Activity 6: Artificial embryo twinning

Artificial embryo twinning creates clones by mimicking the process by which identical twins naturally
form. An egg is artificially fertilised by a sperm and a zygote forms. The unspecialised cells of the
resulting embryo are then separated during the first few days of growth. This creates multiple
identical embryos, which are each implanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother to grow and
develop. The resulting offspring are all genetically identical to each other.
Explain why the resultant offspring are all genetically identical and hence clones.
The resulting offspring are made from the same identical sperm and egg cells, which have been
split and copied through meiosis. Therefore they share the same DNA and are hence clones.

Activity 7: Think it through questions

a) Lucy and Sarah both want to take the same friend to the Year 12 formal as their date. Sarah
jokes that they should just clone their friend and then they would both have a date.
Why would this hypothetical plan never work to give them both a date?
the clone would take time to grow and by the time it is born, their year 12 formal would be over.
not to mention they probably want the clone to be the same age as them, which is impossible

b) Nature has been cloning organisms for far longer than scientists. Reflect on the ways different
organisms reproduce and list some examples of organisms that can naturally clone themselves.
single celled organisms like bacteria, parthenogenesis in some animals.

c) When Alfred found out his elderly dog Mr Biggies was unwell, he couldn't bear the thought of
saying goodbye forever. He paid a biotechnology firm to clone Mr Biggies using SCNT. A few
months later, Alfred received Mr Biggies II. But Alfred was not at all happy. Mr Biggies II didn't
seem to recognise him and had 'forgotten' all of his training.
Explain the cause of these 'flaws' with Mr Biggies II.
Mr Biggles II may have the same DNA as Mr Biggles, but he does not have the same life experiences
and knowledge that Mr Biggles had when he died. Mr Biggles II is no different to Mr Biggles when
he was a puppy.

Activity 8: Complete this interactive quiz by deciding if each scenario will result in clones.

@
Is it Cloning? Or Not?- by Genetic Science Learning Centre (2014)
www.blitzingbiology.com.au/linksmodule6 Link 10.5.2

© Blitzing Publications 161 Module 6: Genetic Change

Activity 9: When is cloning animals effective?

Animal cloning often requires multiple attempts before a successful clone is produced. Fertilised eggs
formed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) often fail to grow by mitosis (cell division). Also, the
insertion of early embryos into surrogates from SCNT or artificial embryo twinning often results in a
miscarriage. Hence cloning is expensive and time consuming. Nonetheless, animal cloning can be
done given there is sufficient financial investment, time and attempts.

a) Identify three factors that reduce the efficacy of cloning animals.

there might be a miscarriage, it is expensive, mitosis might not happen properly.

b) Developing a specific transgenic trait in an animal is very difficult and can take many years.
Assess the efficacy of producing more copies of a transgenic animal through cloning once it has
been made, rather than using normal breeding via sexual reproduction.
it could take time to produce the specific traits through selective breeding, as they may remain
dormant and take generations to be expressed. Using cloning, it is possible to select the
desired traits to ensure that the trait will be expressed in the clone.

c) Mice are often used as a model for studying human diseases and
treatment options, e.g. diabetic mice are often used in studies of
human diabetes. Consider a medical study using cloned diabetic mice
in two groups - one group will receive a potential treatment drug and
the other group will receive a placebo drug.
Explain how using cloned mice will impact the validity of the study.
the cloned mice will have the same genes, making them a controlled variable. Therefore the
results will be more reliable as the mice's genes could not have affected the experiment.

d) Bulls destined for meat production tend to be castrated early in life.

After being slaughtered, the quality and yield of their meat can be
judged. Consider a slaughtered bull that has been judged to have
outstanding meat quality. Outline how cloning and artificial insemination
could be used to pass this bull's genetics onto new generations.
the somatic cells from the bull to create a clone. When the clone is grown up, the sperm cells
can be taken to create more clones.

Module 6: Genetic Change 162 © Blitzing Publications