Clones are organisms that are genetically identical. Most clones are single-cell bacteria or protozoa that reproduce by making exact copies of themselves. But these are not the clones that are making headlines in Washington D.C. and around the world. What does it mean to clone an animal such as a sheep, a pig or a human being? Should we care? The answer is an emphatic "Yes!" Learn more about the complexity of the scientific and moral issues surrounding cloning at these five sites.
In order to understand cloning and how a cloned animal differs from one with two genetic parents, you need to have a basic understanding of genetics. This BrainPOP movie is a good place to start. After viewing the short animation, take the quiz ("Which cells in your body contain DNA?") and try the printable activities.
The title refers not to do-it-yourself cloning (thank goodness!), but rather to the understanding of complicated scientific concepts. Created specially for the upper elementary and middle-school crowd, I Can Do That explains DNA, cells, and synthesis with a cartoon-like approach. "There are a lot of us Genes here, so it can get pretty confusing. We are kinda the brains behind the whole operation. And not just the nucleus, but the entire cell and even the entire body. Each of us Genes has only one job to do. That's to remember exactly how to construct a single protein."
"What does it mean? How did they do it? Who will use the technology? Should we clone just because we can?" Based on these four questions, Time Online presents a glossy multimedia look at cloning and its implications. "When Dr. Ian Wilmut and his team from the Roslin Institute created a lamb named Dolly, they accomplished what many experts thought was a scientific impossibility. Unlike offspring produced in the usual fashion, Dolly does not merely take after her biological mother. She is a carbon copy, a laboratory counterfeit so exact that she is in essence her mother's identical twin."
"The immediate response to the cloned sheep Dolly's birth was a revulsion against the idea of using the same technique to clone human beings. Some nineteen countries immediately banned the practice; the U.S. so far has not." From the online archives of Time.com, comes this collection of articles on topics related to cloning such as the Human Genome Project and Plant & Animal Applications of Cloning. One of the best pages is the clickable time line which traces the history of the Genetics Revolution starting with the 1953 discovery of DNA.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Cloning Special ReportSalon: Dr. Frankenstein, I Presume? | Science MattersYahoo! Full Coverage Cloning |
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