In 1996, one of the most famous instances of cloning occurred when Dolly was made from the udder cell of a 6-year-old sheep. But what exactly is cloning? It’s broadly defined as “the creation of an exact genetic replica of a small segment of DNA, a cell or a whole organism.” However, the resulting creature isn’t always a carbon copy of its source. The genetic outcome depends on the specific method employed. Scientists conduct three different types of cloning:
In a method perhaps less exciting than that which led to Dolly’s conception, gene or molecular cloning creates copies of genes or DNA segments. It’s often used to study particular genes in a lab.
In this case, scientists take a specific DNA segment and place it in the self-replicating genetic material called plasmid DNA within a bacterial cell. They then put the resulting recombinant (combined human and bacterial) DNA into a ...
