What is a Cloning?

The word 'clone' denotes an object or organism regarded as identical to another. In biotechnology, it is a generic term for the replication in a laboratory of genes, cells or organisms from a single original entity. As a result, exact genetic copies of the original gene, cell or organism can be produced.

Cloning, or the exact duplication of specific genes and individual types of cells, has been a tool in biotechnology for many years. This technique has been used to produce medicines and vaccines to treat heart attacks, kidney disease, diabetes, various cancers, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis and other diseases. There is also research into cloning human organs and tissues.

This overview will focus on the use of cloning for developing organisms by a technique called nuclear transfer technology.