“In biology, a clone is a group of individual cells or organisms descended from one progenitor (otherwise known as a parent). This means that the clones from one progenitor are genetically identical due to cell replication and how it produces identical daughter cells each time. The use of the word clone has been expanded to recombinant DNA technology, which has supplied scientists with the ability to produce many copies of a single slice of DNA, such as a gene, creating identical copies that constitute a DNA clone. The small replicating molecule is called a DNA vector (carrier). The most commonly used vectors are plasmids, viruses, and yeast cells. Plasmids are not a part of the central cellular genome, but they can carry genes that provide the host cell with useful properties, such as drug resistance, mating ability, and toxin production. They are small enough to be conveniently manipulated experimentally, and, furthermore, they will carry extra DNA that is spliced into them.” (Griffiths, Anthony J.F.)
The word clone originates from the ancient Greek klon, meaning “twig.” The body cells of plant clones are derived from mitosis of a single fertilized egg. In other words, a clone is an individual genetically identical to another. Naturally occurring clones can be anything from cells produced asexually to genetically identical twins.
The most common way gardeners, plant breeders, and farmers can clone a plant is by cutting a chute from a particular plant one would want to copy, dipping the end of the chute in plant hormone powder and then placing the plant in a pot of soil. The hormone powder will encourage the chute to grow roots. By the end of the growing process, the chute is now genetically identical to the plant it was taken from. This process works because of stem cells in the chute, which are made to differentiate to form different cells and tissues. However, if a breeder wanted to produce hundreds of clones from one plant, the most convenient method is called “tissue culture,” otherwise known as micropropagation. A few cells are taken from the parent plant and placed on to a nutrient jelly, using an antiseptic technique. This technique prevents any microorganisms from contaminating the jelly. The cells will eventually start to grow roots and form new plants.
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Breeders cannot select for increased yield in cell cultures because the cellular mechanism for this trait is not known. The advantage of cell selection over conventional breeding is the ability to inexpensively screen large numbers of cells in a petri dish in a short time instead of breeding a similar number of plants in an expensive, large field trial conducted over an entire growing season.
Cloning is under the scientific study category of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). Plants that propagate, (to cause, continue, or to increase sexual or asexual reproduction) asexually produce clones of themselves. As previously stated, a clone is a group of individual cells or organisms descended from one parent. This means that the members of a clone are genetically identical because cell replication produces identical daughter cells each time. Plant biotechnology has been and continues to create new opportunities in agriculture, environmental biology, chemical production, and the medicinal field. The development of genetically modified crops with valued traits like herbicide, pest resistance, elongated drought and salt tolerance, these genotypes require different combinations of expression elements to achieve the desired effects. When the preferred crop is created, such as seedless watermelon, instead of going through the process of time-consuming breedings, plant cloning is a large time-saver and leaves time to grow more of the seedless watermelon.
Methods of gene cloning are useful in studying the structure and function of genes in detail. These details that we discover are crucial for knowledge to allow us to advance in the medical field, medicinal applications: in medicine, cloned bacteria play an important role in the synthesis of vitamins, hormones, and antibiotics. Agricultural applications: cloning in bacteria facilitate nitrogen fixation in plants (Saadeldin, Islam M.). When a plant is cloned, the farmer will know ahead of time how that new plant will grow, because clones are genetic matches to their “mother” plant, they will grow similarly to their progenitor if they are under similar environmental conditions.
Cloned plants also reproduce faster, for example: If a farmer wants to speed up the harvest time of his personal garden, one of the best ways to do so is by using clones instead of seeds. Cloned plants have adult leaves and a stem system. The clone is weeks ahead of the same species seed planted at the same time. Growers typically see roots within two weeks of taking a cutting. If a progenitor that has shown resistance to common diseases among plants will pass that trait onto its clones. Plant cloning is considered a model method of maintaining a self-sustaining garden or field.
Clones have existed much longer than many give credit for. Some examples of cloning before lab plant cloning are natural and early intentional cloning. These can be recognized through plants sending runners, or humans planting cuttings. Plant cloning is popular for commercial use for its many benefits. For example, instead of following the breeding guide that a farmer made when trying to result with a seedless watermelon, the farmer could clone a few, or many genetically identical melons depending on what type of cloning he uses. Plant cloning also has potential beyond agricultural and medicinal purposes, but even in the reconstruction of nature
Plant cloning could be used in both practical and commercial ways to save heavily damaged ecosystems or help repair forests decimated by fire, such as Yellowstone National Park or the forests in California. This could be done in a lab through micropropagation cloning to replace hundreds of trees damaged by the California fires with trees untouched in or near the area. If time were to be taken to buy seeds, nurture, and grow the trees could be cut in half with cloning in a lab. This can also be applied to medicine. If there is a high demand for a medicine with a rare plant ingredient, micropropagation could be the answer to such high demand.
Speaking of commercial use, here is a comparison showing how plant cloning is better in every practical, commercial aspect to animal/human cloning, plant cloning easily wins in the subjects of expense, efficiency, and risk. Plants can’t feel pain and they are easily replaceable if killed, as they aren’t under any domestic laws, plant cloning is inexpensive, even in a lab, and plant cloning fails very rarely.
References
- Cloning – National Center for Biotechnology Information
- Engineering of a Nascent Viral RNA Affinity Probe That Selectively Mimics HIV-1 Genomic RNA Dimerization
- National Library of Medicine Profiles in Science – “Har Gobind Khorana Papers”
- A Natural Born Clone? The Myth of Comicon with Millennial Politics
