Cloning

Cloning describes the processes used to create an exact genetic replica of another cell, tissue or organism. The copied material, which has the same genetic makeup as the original, is referred to as a clone. The most famous clone was a Scottish sheep named Dolly.

There are three different types of cloning:

• Gene cloning, which creates copies of genes or segments of DNA
• Reproductive cloning, which creates copies of whole animals
• Therapeutic cloning, which creates embryonic stem cells. Researchers hope to use these cells to grow healthy tissue to replace injured or diseased tissues in the human body.

National Human Genome Research Institute

Cloning on Wikipedia

'''Cloning''' is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. A ''clone'' in the biology sense, therefore, is a single cell (like bacteria, lymphocytes etc.) or multi-cellular organism that is genetics identical to another living organism. Sometimes this can refer to "natural" clones made either when an organism asexual reproduction or when two genetically identical individuals are produced by accident (as with identical twins), but in common parlance the clone is an identical copy by some conscious design. Also see clone (genetics). The term ''clone'' is derived from ''κλων'', the Greek language word for "twig". In horticulture, the spelling ''clon'' was used until the twentieth century; the final ''e'' came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o". Since the term entered the popular lexicon in a more general context, the spelling ''clone'' has been used exclusively. In biology, cloning is used in two contexts: cloning a gene, or cloning an organism. Cloning a gene means to extract a gene from one organism (for example by PCR) and insert it into a second organism (usually via a vector (biology)), where it can be used and studied. Cloning a gene sometimes can refer to success in identifying a gene associated with some phenotype. For example, when biologists say that the gene for disease X has been cloned, they mean that the gene's location and DNA sequence has been identified, although the ability to specifically copy the physical DNA is a side-effect of its identification. Cloning an organism means to create a new organism with the same genetic information as an existing one. In a modern context, this can involve somatic cell nuclear transfer in which the cell nucleus is removed from an Ovum cell and replaced with a nucleus extracted from a cell of the organism ...   [ Read More ]

External Resources

Shezilla: The Cloning Project - An illustrated fan-fiction short story about Godzilla.

Madman (1981) - "Another clone of Friday the 13th". Mentions setting, killings, and intelligence of characters.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Unofficial Site - Annotated timeline of the Clone Wars period.

Macon Clones - Middle Georgia club, with news, pictures, and links.

The Clone Wars - Rumors, news, and commentary.

Allscifi.com: Attack of the Clones - Storyline and commentary.

EW.com: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - Articles, interviews, and photos.

KillerMovies.com: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - Cast, news, trailers, and synopsis.

IMDb: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones(2002) - Credits and production notes, courtesy the Internet Movie Database.

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones - Short review of the film by Ken Wais.

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